Blurred Lines
by FatalBlow
Summary: The game is over and they have won. Life can finally go back to normal, or as normal as things can get. However, many sweeps later, trouble stirs again as the god tiers start to go missing. But that's not all. Young trolls and humans still in their teens are disappearing as well. The former players soon find out there will always be trouble, game or no game.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is a thing that is happening.**

**After going through the dusty old documents of my writing folder, I found this little gem. I'd forgotten all about it, but I gave it a quick read over and remembered how much I loved it. So I fixed it up and started writing more in it and, after building up about six chapters, decided to post it here.**

**It's probably worth mentioning that this story will feature characters that were confirmed dead because I wanted the whole cast. Their revival won't be explained, but if you want to think up your own theory then feel free. ^^**

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**Chapter 1**

He'd been dreaming again. Even though the game was over, he still slept in the dream bubbles just like all the other former players. This time, he'd seen the end of their journey. Karkat woke up abruptly, staring at the ceiling of his small hive, clutching the blanket beneath him. He always knew how that dream, memory, would end, but he still woke up terrified. Terrified that they hadn't actually won, that he'd dreamed all that.

It wasn't a bad dream, just a memory, really. He didn't really have bad dreams, since all he was doing was visiting dream bubbles. Even if he didn't use the slime beds from before. Three human years on a meteor without them had gotten him used to sleeping on the things humans called beds. Turns out that alchemetizing slime was ridiculously expensive, too. The quirks of Paradox Space would never make sense to him.

To be honest, for a while the waking world had been more of a nightmare, anyways. They had found a planet to call their own, or rather, terraformed one. They'd done so within the human's very solar system, in fact. It'd taken years, but now it seemed a lot like Alternia's warm temperatures and wet climates. The sun, however, wasn't as hot, so trolls could go outside without going immediately blind, though. Going out in midday still had its issues, however.

Well, regardless, they'd changed the name of that planet to Alternia because the old one was a shitty ass name, but everyone was too fucking stupid to come up with something other than Alternia. They'd all been there for sweeps, now. Re-population had been a success on their end, with the help of ectobiology, just like with the humans.

Despite his mutant blood, he himself had matured into an adult troll and continued into that adulthood with few signs of ageing any quicker than anyone else. Going into his mid-thirties (in human years that is) and still looking young. He supposed he could be thankful for that. That is, if his life wasn't so fucking terrible.

He'd lived alone after self exiling himself. It hadn't been a human year since Alternia's re-population had begun. At first, isolating himself from everyone else had been done out of frustration after the hemospectrum had been put back in place. Okay, maybe he could have handled that, but whoever was in charge had also decided that his blood was to be no part of it.

As the sweeps passed, though, frustration gave way to pride. He couldn't bring himself to go crawling back to them all, so here he stayed.

He had also cut off all contact with anyone, only bringing along something that humans called a 'phone' just in case of emergencies. He'd locked that away, though. The temptation to message someone, anyone, had been too strong. His existence was fairly meaningless, boring, and very lonely. Or at least during the first sweep or so. It seemed that, boring though his life was, it was not without its own eventfulness. And one day a particular event ended up changing a lot of things.

He wasn't all alone, now. Fate had it that his new home was near one of the many exits, or perhaps entrances, to the Mother Grub's brooding caverns. He hadn't known until he started noticing little trolls crawling out and lusi coming to take care of them. Sometimes, out of boredom, he'd sit in the window of his shitty tree house home and watch.

And then one day, he'd seen her. She'd smacked her head on something and was out like a light, though still a good ways from his home. He'd found her on his way out to a nearby market, since he still needed to buy supplies. She was very young, though, maybe a couple of sweeps ahead of her metamorphosis. And it seemed that she was abandoned by her lusus, assuming she even had one in the first place.

So he'd investigated. He'd actually contacted Kanaya a couple of times before about stray wigglers, those were the only times he'd touched the phone, so he figured that this would be another one of those cases. Except it definitely was not one of those cases. Not when he saw the cherry red blood leaking out of the wound on her head and onto his hand when he made to pick her up.

He had never truly felt like he had good company. Sure, there had been Jack and the humans with their same coloured blood, but they weren't trolls. All of his friends could take comfort in having others out there with the same blood colour as him. Kankri didn't fucking count because he was just plain embarrassed to be related to him and he was supposed to be deader than dead anyways.

Yet here he was, now, staring down at a mutant just like him. Eyes fixated on that cherry red blood. He couldn't call Kanaya this time.

But really, what was he thinking taking her home with him? Trolls didn't take care of their children, that was something reserved for the lusus. He asked himself this over and over again as he carried the unconscious girl back. He'd laid her on the bed, wrapped her head and tucked her into the blankets, then collapsed into his desk chair with a groan.

He remembered it almost as if it had happened yesterday, although many sweeps had passed since that fateful day.

"_What am I, a fucking idiot?" he muttered. "Yeah, sounds about fucking right..."_

_Okay, so what did he do now? He couldn't raise the girl himself. He slammed his head onto the desk. Dammit, he was so stupid! He should just call up Kanaya and... Yeah, but what could she do, what with her duties as the Mother Grub's caretaker? Even if the idea wasn't full out ludicrous, she wouldn't have time to take care of a young troll on top of everything else._

_What about Terezi? Probably on Earth with her human matesprit. Not that he really trusted her to raise anything without it becoming just as shithive maggots as she was. Anyone else was pretty much ruled out, too, as he realized that most of his friends were way too batshit insane to handle something like this without fucking up royally. Dammit, leave it to him to stumble into a bullshit situation that only he could take care of._

_Grudgingly, he dug out the phone from his locked chest. He had spent many days staring at it, fighting the inner battle between keeping to his oath and breaking this unbearable loneliness. He would never in a million sweeps admit to anyone that he missed his friends, but to himself he couldn't help to after so long._

_'TEREZI, CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU GET SOMEWHERE PRIVATE,' he messaged the troll he thought that he could trust the most. And one of the few of his friends that he could contact since he didn't have anyone else's number. The device buzzed not a second later, as if she'd been sitting by just waiting for him to contact her._

"_Oh my jegus, Karkat!" she said in shock and excitement._

"_What?" he growled wearily. She laughed._

"_It _is _you!" she yelled. "I haven't heard from you in forever!"_

"_Yeah, well, I wasn't kidding when I said I was fucking leaving and not coming back," he growled as quietly as he could so he didn't wake his little rescuee._

"_So I guess you're still mad about the hemospectrum."_

"_I have every fucking right to be," he snapped._

"_I know. Why are you whispering?" she demanded._

"_I... I-It's none of your fucking business," he muttered._

"_Then why are you calling?" she asked. He supposed that she'd probably assume that this was important, considering that he'd cut all contact from anyone for sweeps._

"_Look, I need a husktop," he told her. He didn't have the means to contact the humans who would be the best help in this situation. He would have to rely on Trollian. Also, their human internet would probably provide some advice in this situation, too... "Think you're capable of sendificating me one?"_

"_Oh, probably," she replied. "Why? Are you finally getting back in touch with everybody?!" she asked excitedly._

"_No, like I'd ever want to talk with you bunch of nook sucking fuckers ever again," he snapped._

"_Oh, cut the shit, Karkat," she scoffed. "We haven't talked in sweeps! Why do you need a husktop, anyways?"_

"_To contact someone. Just sendificate one or something."_

"_Will you promise to keep in touch, then?" she said. "I've missed you!"_

"_No," he said obstinately._

"_But I'm on Earth with Dave and his cool bro!" she protested. "So it's not like anyone's going to find out. Please?"_

"_Fine," he sighed. He didn't have time to bicker with her. "Just send the damn husktop to these coordinates..."_

An hour later, after a lot of cursing and messing up, the husk top had arrived and he'd gotten it all set up. He was fortunate that the little girl hadn't woken up. At one point he thought she might actually be dead and had shakily checked her pulse. He sighed with relief when he'd found a heartbeat; she was still alive. Then, he'd downloaded the things he needed and trolled John, another friend he hadn't spoken with in sweeps.

At first, John was the only one who knew. He'd eventually crumbled and told Terezi, as well, which meant that Dave almost certainly knew about it. And would surely jerk around about it if he knew how to actually contact him, since he'd changed his handle to avoid nosey questions. Of course, there was one other person who knew. One that hadn't even crossed his mind until soon after...

_John kindly sent some things for him as well as advice, although not after a lot of bitching and teasing. The girl woke up not long after that. She seemed confused, and panicked and cried a little. All he did was sit and stare like a dumbass, half wondering what to do and half wondering why she wasn't just speaking. She was old enough, right? Jegus, he really didn't know anything about this shit._

_He really hadn't expected Jade to fade into existence then and there, wearing some weird ass glasses. It took him a second to realize that those were the all seeing glasses that she'd alchemized a while back. He felt stupid for not considering this variable, but all that bullshit had happened so long ago and he'd completely forgotten that the damn things existed. How could he be expected to remember her dumb glasses?_

_In any case, he was relieved to see that she had some clothing in her arms that looked to be the right size for the little wriggler._

"_Karkat!" she said happily, tossing the clothes onto the bed and grabbing him in a hug when he stood up._

_He froze up. This wasn't the greeting he was expecting, nor one he really wanted. Or, at least, that's what he was trying to tell himself. It wasn't the greeting he'd gotten the last time they'd not spoken for years, either, which was their meeting in the dream bubble during the three human year trip._

_She'd changed, though, ageing into a young woman in her prime and staying that way due to her god tier. She had grown into adulthood well, though. For a human, at least. For a second he couldn't believe that this was John's dorky human sister that he'd been waxing red for all those sweeps ago. She was beautiful._

_What he'd thought was buried as a teen-hood crush, though, came roaring back full force, making him a little dizzy. He successfully resisted the urge to grab her and never let go. He cursed his cheeks for turning a lovely rose colour and wrenched his head away to hide it as soon as she released him. The last thing he wanted was for her to see him getting flustered. Or to suspect that all the red feelings he'd had for her during the game were being unearthed like bloody corpses rising as the undead._

"_What the hell are you doing here?!" he snapped, hoping she would mistake his red face for anger, even though a part of him was overjoyed to see her._

"_Look, fuckass," she growled, albeit playfully. Her dorky grin deftly twisting into a smug smirk. "I happened to be checking in on you through the glasses and saw your little crisis. I figured that you knew fuck all about taking care of kids, so I figured I should pay a long overdue visit." He was struck speechless for a second._

_Whoa, okay, when did Jade start talking like a bad ass? She sounded soooo much cooler than when she was a nerdy teen. Ugh, that didn't help his attempts to suppress those stupid flushed feelings. Apparently trying to stomp them down into the stinking hole they'd dragged themselves out of wasn't doing much in the way of actually helping. Why can't he let go of stupid fucking kid thoughts? He was a fucking adult, now!_

"_You fucking pervert," he retorted with his classic gruffness. "Can't get e-fucking-nough of me, can you?"_

"_Whatever do you mean?" she purred. "I was just being a good friend, Karkat."_

_Oh that classic naive bullshit. This flighty broad was way too damn good at playing the innocent little girl. If he could call her 'little' anymore. Dammit, she was nearly his height, when the hell did that happen? Why was he so short, on top of so many other things?_

"_Look, just tell me why the fuck you're here," he muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly._

"_One sec," she murmured, sitting on the bed and gathering the little girl into her arms._

_She immediately stopped her snivelling, eyes fixating on Jade._

"_Hello there," Jade said. "Do you have a name?" The girl blinked, but she didn't react to her speaking at all._

_Curiously, Karkat snapped a finger near her ear. It didn't so much as twitch, and neither did she turn her head. There was no reaction whatsoever. To be honest, he was impressed she'd survived the trials if she was hatched deaf. It was...surprising to say the least. It gave him a tiny bit of pride in his blood colour, for once._

"_She's deaf," he commented. Now he didn't need to whisper._

"_Yes, it looks like it. Maybe we can find someone to help her out?" Jade mused. She smiled at the youngling. "Karkat, why didn't you tell me troll kids were so cute!" she exclaimed._

"_Because they aren't," he snapped._

"_Did you name her?" Ignoring him._

"_Like hell, I just fucking found her! Why don't you name her?!" He folded his arms across his chest and gave her a grumpy scowl._

"_How about Janyah?" she suggested. He shrugged, not caring. "Janyah Vantas!"_

"_Wait, why the fuck does she have my last name?!" he exclaimed, giving her a panicked look. "Aren't you taking her home with you?!"_

"_Of course not! I would never take Janyah away from her dad!" Jade said, affronted that he would even suggest that._

"_What? What the hell?" Dad? That was a human word, but what did it mean again?_

"_You heard me," she chimed. "Now how about we get you into some clothes, hm?" she cooed at the little girl, who giggled in reply. Oh, now he remembered. He gritted his teeth, angry that she was just dumping all of this on him now._

"_Why?" he demanded as Jade proceeded to dress Janyah in a doofus shirt and shitty overalls._

"_Because I think it would be good for you," Jade said calmly. "You've been living out here all alone since you were exiled. Every time I see you, you're bored out of your mind. In fact, this is the first time in ages that I've seen you so much as scowl! I never thought I'd say this, but I think anger is a lot healthier than sadness, especially for you! Plus, Janyah needs a home, too. I think the arrangement is perfect! Don't you?"_

"_Hell no. Trolls don't take care of their own young, that's the lusus' job," he argued. "And I'm not fucking bored. If I wanted company then I'd open a fucking memo." She face palmed._

"_Oh please don't start with that. Your stupid troll hatelove thing with yourself gives me such a headache to look at," she sighed. "Or even think about, for that matter."_

"_That's sick, implying that I have black feelings for myself. What fucking right do you even have to say something like that?! You barely know what that even means!" he yelled. She pressed a finger to her lips._

"_Shh... You're going to make Janyah upset. Can't you lower your voice at least a little?" she groaned._

"_Oh my fucking gog, she's fucking deaf it doesn't even fucking matter!" he yelled._

"_And I'll be deaf, too, soon," she sighed, giving him a teasing smile. "Jeez, Karkat, you're not even that opposed to the idea, I can totally tell! And your lusus argument is pretty weak too because she obviously should have one by now. Even I know that much about you trolls! Would it make you feel better if I visited every now and then to help?" she offered._

_He opened his mouth to outright refuse that, but closed it immediately. Sometimes, he really needed to think before he spewed forth whatever vile thoughts he was thinking out his mouth. He, once again and very grudgingly, admitted that he was kind of lonely out here. And a small, tiny part of him was warmed by her offer to visit._

_An even smaller and tinier part that was actually way too big and liked to goad the rest of him into beating the shit out of it for being so fucking retarded thought that maybe this way he could pursue a redrom with her. Him, the one most opposed to human/troll sloppy make outs! Oh god, his cheeks better not be going red again. His mental self quickly waved away those thoughts. He could beat himself up later for that._

_Wait, didn't Egbert say something stupid about 'chicks digging men with kids'? He didn't actually really know what that meant, but he could assume that it meant that if he took care of Janyah, then maybe Jade would like him more? He was a bit more keen on the prospect, now. Not to mention that it would be an...interesting challenge._

"_Karkat?"_

"_What?!" That snapped him out of his retarded daydreams pretty quick._

"_If you really don't want to take her, I would be willing," she said calmly._

"_No! No, I'll do it," he grumbled. She smiled, and he hated himself a little more when it made him a bit happier._

"_Okay," she said as she stood up, Janyah in her arms. She passed the girl over to him. Karkat stared at her, not really sure what to do. She gave him a toothy grin in return, reaching up to try and grab his colourful horns, to which he wrenched his head away. "I'm going to get some more things," Jade told him. "I'll be back later."_

"_Jade, wait," he said before she could. "Sorry I was such a fucking douchebag," he apologized, "Especially since we haven't talked in forever."_

"_I've come to expect it from you, Karkat," she laughed. "But thanks for the apology."_

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**So, just as a test to see how people will receive this, I'm asking that you review with your opinion. If I get at least three positive reviews, I'll post the next chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

**As promised, here is the next chapter in exchange for three reviews. From here on out, I'll probably post chapters once or twice a week. Every 5 reviews, though, I will post an extra chapter (granted I have one on hand) just for you guys! In any case, thank you for your feedback!**

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**Chapter 2**

With a moan, Karkat rolled out of his bed, only to meet the floor abruptly. He hissed with pain, clutching his nose. This happened way too often in the mornings, but really, the bed just wasn't big enough for two. He really needed to invest in getting Janyah a bed of her own. And a room, maybe. The last time he'd tried carpentry had gone horribly wrong, though. Maybe he'd just sleep outside or something.

"Karkat? You fell off again," Janyah peeked over the edge to say. She was rather loud, but he didn't hold it against her because she couldn't control the volume of her voice very well. Their yelling matches could be deemed legendary, however.

"No shit. Thank you Captain Fucking Obvious." He had to look at her when he spoke. She had learned the art of lip reading, just like Nepeta's dancestor Meulin.

"Don't be a jerk," she scoffed, glaring at him

Oh god how he missed the days when she was actually quiet. Going into her late teen years meant that she was mouthing off more and more, too. He blamed that influence on Jade, whose visits had grown more and more frequent over the sweeps.

And of course, despite all her best efforts, Janyah had developed her 'father's' potty mouth. Karkat didn't care, but Jade sure as hell seemed to. He didn't really know what the deal was, she was going to learn them one day anyways, so why keep them from her until then?

"Hey, is Jade coming over, today?" Janyah asked excitedly.

"Fuck if I know. She never tells me," he muttered.

"Okay. Can we have breakfast, then?"

"Make it your fucking self. I'm going back to bed..." he growled as he got to his feet.

Janyah, now the equivalent of a sixteen or seventeen year old, had grown considerably. Much to his chagrin, she was now taller than him by a couple of inches. She kept her messy black hair in a side ponytail, one that he'd called stupid looking on many occasions. She'd learn to brush off his insults by now, though.

Her eyes were still grey, having yet to fill in with her blood colour. They would be red soon enough, though, and he could already see hints of it. Right now, things were a little easier, he didn't have to care about her getting caught, at least not yet. Yeah, he had to admit, he'd warmed to her over the sweeps. It was definitely going to suck when her eyes finally filled in, which was definitely going to be soon.

She had also stuck with the stupid overalls look over the years. She was inheriting a horrid sense of fashion from her female caretaker. Even he, who had three kinds of the same shirt and just overall didn't give a shit about clothes, cringed whenever Jade brought along things that clashed so violently he was sure that the gods could hear it.

Fortunately, he was never actually with her at the market and thus never seen traipsing around with someone in such a god awful outfit. They parted as soon as they got there, so if he got caught she wasn't dragged into it. Then, when she went home, she could tell Jade what happened upon her next visit and the Witch of Space would be able to care for her, instead.

He didn't like to think about that, though.

"But I would like to go to the market!" she insisted.

"Then go."

"Jade said that I'm not allowed to go alone. I thought you knew that!" she chimed. "So you have to come with me!"

"Then wake me up after fucking breakfast," he muttered as he snuggled back into the warm blankets. Why did he ever sleep in slime, anyways? These things were so much better.

"Well, Karkat, I would love to, but we appear to be out of food!" she exclaimed, shaking him. "So get up lazy bones! We need to head out to the market! It's unfortunate that you don't know if Jade's coming, though, or else I could have gone with her!" Dammit.

"Fine, get dressed," he muttered. "I'll be up in a minute..."

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Normally at this time in the morning, the marketplace was quiet, peaceful. It was nice to enjoy that just before the start of a busy day. Only those early risers that dared step in the sun as it set would come at this time. It was a time for small exchanges with well known costumers, the regulars, before a hectic day of noise, yelling, and general chaos.

Today was an exception.

"Look, fuckass, I'm not in the fucking mood to be listening to your damn squawk gaper shit out useless bullshit that I have spectacularly failed to give even half a bloody fuck about. Just give me the fucking scarf and maybe I'll consider not taking it and strangling so much life out of you that not even that _Maid _of fucking life could do anything to save your ingloriously grey life!"

The shopkeeper scowled deeply at the costumer who harassed him so about this one damn scarf. What blood type was he, anyways? He couldn't tell because of that damn hood shading his eyes, but it seemed like a reddish colour? If so, then how dare this rust blood even so much as question him, a blue blood? Or rather turquoise, but still.

Whoever this angry man was, he'd been trying to haggle the price of this extremely expensive scarf. Why was it so expensive? Duh, obviously because it is made of the finest silk dyed with only the most prestigious jade blood! The embroidery at the end, that of stars and things of mystery, had been done by only the best artisans! Those tassels at the end? Made from the rarest of muscle beast hair!

No, but really, it's a pretty fucking awesome scarf, worthy of only the purest of blue bloods and up! It was made for royalty, not rust blood scum! Who does this guy think he is? He probably doesn't even have the money to feed himself everyday, much less to buy incredibly expensive clothing that he was too fucking unworthy to...

What... What is he doing? Holy shit, how much cash is he going to pull out of his pockets? Oh man, he sure as hell hoped that he hadn't mistaken this guy's blood colour. One glance at his shaded eyes though confirmed that he did indeed fail to make his way that far up the hemospectrum. Poor unlucky sod. But man, all that cash...

"Is this fucking enough?!" his costumer snapped.

"A-Ah, y-yes, s-sir," he said, still flabbergasted by the amount of cash.

"Just shut your stuttering ignorance tunnel and give me that fucking scarf," the other snapped.

"O-Of c-course. H-Here y-you g-go," the shopkeeper said, almost graciously handing over the scarf. "W-Would y-you l-like a-a b-bag t-to g-go w-with i-it?" He snatched the scarf away with a deadly glare.

"Fuck no. I'm going to go shithive maggots if I have to listen to your fucking stuttering for a second longer. Just shut the fuck up and never even think of me ever again. I fucking hate you, you worthless pile of shit!" he yelled.

"O-Oh, I-I'm n-not s-sure a-about t-this... I-I d-don't t-think y-you're m-my t-type." His costumer performed a glorious double facepalm that was accompanied by a pained moan.

"Oh my fucking gog can't a guy express platonic hate without it turning into a federal fucking issue?! Oh gog, even the fucking humans do it it's so disgusting. What is wrong with you people, can't I hate someone properly without it turning in some horrible blackrom book?!" he lamented as he stormed off.

It was way too much of a chore going to the market. Why did Janyah even like it here so much, anyways? Everyone was a fucking asshat with no sense of manners. Well, at least he was about to get out of here. They'd agreed to meet up later, and the designated time would be soon. They always left before the rush came.

He'd spent most of the time wandering around looking at boring, useless shit. At least, until he'd seen that scarf. He now looked down at it, or rather glared down at it. Why the hell did he buy this over-priced piece of garbage? Surely not for a common visitor whom he was waxing red feelings for not at all oh gog who was he kidding he fully intended on giving it to Jade. How pathetic could he get? He honestly could not be doing this.

Plus, Jade had told him tales of her new matesprit, a man called Alexander. Whom he absolutely could not stand. This had nothing to do with the deep seated feelings of jealousy he brooded over late in the day in his respite block. They'd been together for a couple of sweeps and now she told him about some human thing called marriage which he was pretty sure meant that there was no going back after she went through with it.

He was such an idiot. He probably should have done something earlier. This was even worse than what had happened with Terezi. He actually thought that he might have matured enough to talk about his feelings like a reasonable person instead of skirting around them like a cheesecritter does when in search of food.

He'd like to blame it on the fact that he hadn't even talked with anyone about it and gotten how he felt sorted out. Or maybe because he'd been alone for so long that by the time he was used to having company again he'd lost his chance. But really, he was just a huge fuck up.

Maybe it was in his blood or something. But then again, his ancestor managed a long and meaningful relationship who knows how many sweeps ago, one that supposedly transcended the quadrants? And he couldn't even properly approach a potential partner.

At least he hadn't dropped to the kinds of lows that involved crying himself to sleep every day. He might be going a little insane, though. Like buying this scarf, what the fuck was he supposed to do with this? He sure as hell couldn't give it to her. With a sigh, he folded it up nicely.

He'd probably store it in his chest or something later. The one made specifically for super secret things that no one should lay eyes on. He had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last time he bought something for Jade that he never really planned on giving to her in the first place.

"Hey, what's that?"

He was barely at the meeting place before Janyah bounced up to him. He would never understand how she could be so good at being quiet and sneaking around when she couldn't even tell if she was being loud or not. She was as quiet as a mouse and always got the jump on him, even if he was looking for her! He successfully managed not to jump in surprise, but did give the girl a deadly glare. She was loaded up with all sorts of bags holding all sorts of things.

"None of your buzzbug wax," he snapped, turning away in a pitiful attempt to hide his treasure. She rolled her eyes.

"Karkat, did you get anything I wanted you to get from the list?" she demanded. She already knew that answer. "Well, it's a good thing I got all that stuff anyways or else we'd have to go without!"

"Whatever," he muttered, looking away.

"WHAT?! I CAN'T FUCKING SEE YOUUUUUU, KARKAT!" she yelled at him. He gave her the finger.

"Can we just go back now?" he groaned.

"Yeah, of course," she said, smiling at him.

It took maybe an hour's walk to get back to the hive. Probably a little less. A lot less if Janyah wasn't prone to dawdling. Her pace was rather quick today, though. She seemed upbeat and happy, as well.

"Karkat, do you have a crush on Jade?" she suddenly asked innocently, looking at him.

"No," he growled. His automatic answer.

"Then why'd you buy her that pretty green scarf? I admire your taste, by the way. Why don't you buy me pretty scarves?" she whined.

"Who says it's for her anyways?" he said angrily. "Maybe I like green fucking scarves, ever consider that?"

"Yeah, that's total bullshit," she scoffed. "You've made it clear to the point where I could recite your fucking lectures in my sleep that you have no fucking interest in fashion, especially green fucking scarves. Clearly, it's for Jade. Unless, of course, you _did_ get it for me?"

"Fuck off, it's for a friend!" he shouted. He was getting genuinely angry at her for her prying. Just because he considered her his -shudder- _daughter_ didn't mean that she had to stick her damn nose in all of his business.

"Calm down, Karkat," she said.

"Then keep your fucking nose out of my fucking business!" he snarled.

"Okay, okay, jeez," she finally backed down. "I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone. It's just unlike you to do things like that, know what I mean?"

He didn't reply. The best way to end a conversation with her was to just stop talking. Of course, no one was better at ignoring people than Janyah herself. If she was really determined, she could easily continue to piss him off. Curse her deafness and the fact that it actually helped her tune out his lectures. But she fortunately let them return to the hive in silence.

"Jade?"

They were nearly back by now. It seems that Jade had in fact come by to visit. She was standing beside what looked a bunch of supplies and tools that he stared blankly at. She smiled at him.

Today, she wasn't wearing her usually dresses of all varieties. She had on heavy boots, slacks, and an old T-shirt, with a pair of work gloves tucked into her belt. In his opinion, she looked no less beautiful than when she wore her dresses. She had her long hair done up in a ponytail, a rare occasion, in order to keep it out of the way.

"I got tired of waiting for you to ask for help repairing your house," she commented. "So I grabbed some things and brought them over so we could get some work done today." Janyah gasped, dropping all her bags.

"I'm getting my own room?!" she exclaimed, squealing with joy when Jade nodded. She quickly ran to put the bags inside, leaving Karkat to walk over to her.

"I would have asked," he grumbled sulkily. She laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure. But by then, Janyah would be ready to get her own hive and make it in the world on her own," Jade replied. He gave a her a weird look.

"What?" Janyah? Leave?

"Come on, Karkat, you can't honestly believe that she'll stay here forever," she said, her voice gentle as if she were breaking bad news to him. It kind of was bad news. He'd never even considered that.

"She can't do that," he growled. "Not with her blood colour!"

"You can't keep her cooped up, either," she pointed out.

"I can," he growled. "She's not leaving." He wasn't going to be alone again. Janyah wouldn't actually leave, would she? The thought left an uncomfortable ache in his heart.

"I think you'll understand if you think about it a little more," she reassured him. Her eyes than rested on the scarf that he'd failed to hide. "What's that?"

"Shit, um..." He looked down at the scarf. She liberated him of it, unfolding it to get a better look at it.

"It's beautiful, Karkat!" she exclaimed. "I didn't think you had it in you!"

"What?"

"So who's it for?" she asked, giving it back to him with a mischievous grin. "Who's the lucky lady or gentleman you bought that scarf for?" He gave her a horrified look.

_Dammit, Jade, why are you being genuinely naive now?!_ he thought irritably. Sometimes he just wished she would notice his flushed feelings and end this torture. This was one of those times.

"None of your business," he snapped, shoving the scarf into a pocket in his cloak. "Who said I got for anyone, anyways?"

"Well, you certainly didn't buy it for yourself or Janyah," she giggled. "As fashion deprived as you are, I'm surprised you would consider a scarf like that at all!"

"_I'm_ the one who's fashion deprived?! Harley, sometimes I find it hard to believe that I can look at you or Janyah without my eyes vomiting because of how much your shit clashes! Hell, it's a wonder your matesprit can look at you everyday without instantly deciding to leave you!" he exclaimed.

She gave him a look of utter surprise, horror, and...sadness? She even drew back as if he'd struck her physically, and he felt instantly guilty even if he wasn't quite sure what he'd said. He always said stuff like this about her matesprit and she always brushed it off with a laugh.

No, that wasn't quite true. As of late, her smile would falter and fade briefly. Her grin usually returned full force, though, and he'd never concerned himself with her obvious anxiety. Well, that wasn't true either. He brooded over it, trying to figure out what was wrong. He never asked, though, because Alexander was her matesprit and, frankly, that really just wasn't something he wanted to be involved in.

He reached out to grab her shoulder and apologize, but Janyah interrupted them by bouncing out of the hive. Jade quickly put on her normal, happy grin as they all got down to work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ah, I'm going to run out of chapters with the way you guys are reviewing! XD I'm trying to write as fast as I can.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Karkat ached all over. Even with Jade's help, getting any sort of work done on a tree house with three people, even if one of them was an omnipotent demigod, was hard. Especially with Janyah bouncing off the metaphorical walls in complete and utter excitement. But they got a good start and even the normally grumpy troll was feeling better than he had in ages. This new ache to his muscles gave him the feeling that he was getting something done. He felt useless most of the time and he didn't like that.

The sun was out by now and he was squinting a lot. Even if the sun was farther away than it had been back on previous Alternia, his night sensitive eyes would have no dealings with the huge flaming ball of gas and heat. He pulled his hood up, but it did little to help. He didn't like going out in the day. Everything was just so fucking _bright_.

Janyah had passed out in her bed, so it was just him and Jade, now. She beckoned him to follow and began walking through the trees, neither knowing of a destination nor really caring.

"What the hell was that earlier?" he asked. He knew he had to bring it up. He couldn't stand by and watch her frown at the mere mention of the one person that was supposed to make her smile. "And don't pull that naive bullshit on me either because I know that you know exactly what the fuck I'm talking about."

"It caught me off guard," she said. "What you said."

"It doesn't usually."

"Alex and I..." she sighed. "We aren't getting married, anymore." He honestly couldn't be surprised by that. Not with all the hints she'd been dropping, unintentional or not.

"Okay. And how do you feel about that?" he said, perhaps a little clumsily. It had worked before, sweeps ago back during the game. Surely it would work this time?

"Well, sad, obviously," she said. He almost breathed a sigh of relief that she was obviously willing to talk. "But I guess...relieved."

"Why's that?" She sighed again.

"I guess I probably should have said something earlier instead of pretending everything was all fine and dandy," she said. "It's little things, really. Sometimes he would do something and it would just irk me for no reason. It was realizing that when I sit alone with my thoughts, I'm mostly just glad to get away from him for a while. It came to the point where neither of us could stand near each other because it was either too awkward or, if we did talk, we usually just argued!

"I don't know what it was that changed everything," she murmured. "I'm not even sure we're going to be friends anymore, either. I'm not sure I _want_ to be friends with him. I thought I knew him when I agreed to marry him, but now... Have you ever felt that way?" He raised an eyebrow, and she laughed at him. "Right, that was a silly question."

"Have I ever told you about Gamzee?" he asked.

"Oh, your clown friend. I never really knew him well. All I knew was that he's one of the reasons half your team..." she trailed off.

"Died," he finished for bluntly. He knew she was trying to be sensitive, but he'd rather she not beat around the bush.

"I guess you know better than me, then," she said. "I feel kind of stupid, now!"

"Don't," he replied. _Especially when you're the smartest fucking person I know..._

The forest ended, suddenly, opening up on a fenced in field filled with muscle beasts idly browsing the grass. Jade stepped forward to lean against the fence as one of the more curious in the herd waddled over to sniff her. She fondly rubbed its snout while Karkat stood in the shade of the trees, less willing to go into the sunlight.

"Alternian creatures are so weird," Jade commented.

"Earth creatures are weirder," he shot back.

"At least we have cool names for our animals," she scoffed. "I mean, what the hell does 'muscle beast' even mean?"

"Well, Harley, it obvious means that it is a beast. You want to know what else means? That the beast is fucking muscular, hence _muscle beast_," he growled. "What the hell does fucking 'elephant' mean? It makes no fucking sense. At least we can look at the names and know _why _they were given that particular name!"

"The word 'elephant' is actually derived from a Latinised form of Greek meaning ivory," Jade explained to him.

"So? What does ivory have to do with fucking anything?"

"Ivory refers to their tusks. _Our_ names are more intelligently thought up!" she crowed triumphantly. He rolled his eyes.

"What the fuck ever," he muttered.

They stood in silence for a while, with Jade paying attention to her new muscle beast friend who greedily demanded pets and rubs. She affectionately called him Cheerio, much to Karkat's chagrin. He really couldn't understand why he was jealous of a fucking _animal_, though. He really was that pathetic.

"Do you think any less of me for calling off the wedding?" she suddenly asked.

"What? That question doesn't even make any fucking sense," he said, confused.

"I feel like I can't commit," she admitted.

"Because you left someone that you didn't think was right for you?" he deadpanned. "Jegus, Harley, I'm not going to hate you for it. I didn't like him anyways."

"You met him once!" she protested.

She'd once invited him and Janyah over for dinner, using her god tier powers to bring them. Naturally, he'd been against it and had gone begrudgingly, mostly because of Janyah. Him and Alex hadn't gotten along very well. The human male had even taken him aside to warn him to stay away from his 'fiancee', a warning that Karkat had never taken to heart. Jade had been fairly oblivious to the whole affair.

"And I didn't fucking like him. He's an even bigger nooksucking douchebag than Strider," Karkat scoffed.

"You can't fool me, Karkat. I know that you and Dave are total bros."

"I think I just threw up a little in my mouth when you said that."

"Liar."

"Look, just shut up about that for a second," he growled. "I'm trying to say that you calling off your human wedding doesn't mean you can't commit or whatever stupid thing you said. It means you can think about what's fucking right for you instead of getting yourself stuck with someone you're going to regret being stuck with for the rest of your life."

"How can you be so negative about everything yet somehow cheer me up and encourage me?" she said, shaking her head with a disbelieving smile. That warmed his heart a little, knowing that he was able to cheer her up. "Thanks, Karkat."

"Yeah, well, apparently I'm the master of relationship advice," he huffed. "And everyone else makes me their advice bitch so why the fuck not."

"You're surprisingly good at it," she laughed. "It makes me wonder why I've never seen you with anyone."

"I don't want to be with anyone," he muttered. Such a lie.

"I'm afraid I can't take your word for that," she replied. "After all, you must have bought that scarf for a reason." Shit, he'd been hoping that she'd forgotten about it.

"Not really. I bought it on a whim," he said nonchalantly.

"There _must_ be someone."

"Harley, you know as well as I that the only people I fucking talk to are you and Janyah, and maybe Terezi if she's being a fucking pest about it. I'm sure as hell not going to even consider Janyah and not just because it's human tabboo, -hell I don't even know if she would fit into any of the quadrants- and Terezi and Strider have a thing going, too," he growled. "So if you hadn't fucking noticed my options are nothing and fucking nothing. I bought that scarf because it caught my eye. Maybe I'll give it to someone one day but at this point I'm pretty sure it's just going to sit in my chest and rot."

She'd watched him with a steady gaze during his small rant. Now she pushed herself off the fence and walked past him.

"Think we should head back?" she suggested, looking over her shoulder at him.

_No, I want to stay here forever talking with you_. "Yeah, sure, I guess," he said with a shrug, pushing himself off the tree and following her back down the path.

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**A fairly short chapter, but I didn't want to tag it on the last one or the next one because then it would have been too long. :c**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here, have some tragedy.**

**WARNING: Self harm**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Janyah was awake when he got back. She was on the husktop, even though he'd told her that she wasn't allowed to be up this late in the day. He tapped her shoulder, making her turn. She didn't look guilty that she was caught, though. Rather, she looked kind of sad.

"What's wrong?" he asked, the lecture he had for her dieing in his throat.

"I had another nightmare," she murmured. "I was alone again." He rubbed the back of his neck, frowning. His race was prone to nightmares, but he'd never had the room to get her a recuperacoon.

"When your room's done, we'll get a cocoon," he told her, throwing the scarf in his chest and removing his cloak.

"I don't want to sleep in slime. What if I drown?"

"That's just fucking stupid, why the fuck would you drown in slime? It's the only way you'll stop having nightmares," he snapped as he flung his cloak onto a small, nearby table. The weather was cool (although it never went below freezing like on Earth, where the temperatures were absolutely ludicrous), so he was wearing two layers. He began taking off his sweater, an older one that had his symbol on it.

"Why wouldn't you drown in slime?" she said loudly. "It's not air!"

"Because you won't," he insisted, plopping down on the bed. "Are you going to sleep or what? I don't really want you waking me up when you crawl over me." He always had her sleep on the wall side so she didn't fall off the bed.

"Karkat, did you know that Jade and Alex aren't getting married anymore?" she said, abruptly changing the subject.

"Yeah." He was a bit jealous that Janyah knew before him. "Why does it matter?"

"I thought you liked Jade?"

"I don't."

"Not even pale?" she asked.

"No," he snapped, pinching his temples with a finger and a thumb. "Humans don't have quadrants."

"But that's dumb because quadrants are the most logical way to do things," she muttered.

"Not really. Not if you have to fill them all up. At least humans can get by with only a matesprit," he muttered. "Where's the satisfaction unless you fill up all your quadrants when you're a troll?"

"I guess. I like the complexity, though. And four's a nice number," she replied. "Almost as good as seven."

"If there were seven kinds of romance I would go outside and give myself up to the undead," Karkat groaned. Janyah laughed, it was stilted, odd, but he'd grown used to it.

"Yeah, me, too. I'm still pretty sure that you like Jade, though, even if I can't tell which quadrant you guys would be in half the time. What about black?" she pressed.

"I don't hate her," he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

"You guys argue so much, though!" she exclaimed.

"Go to sleep, Janyah," he growled. She stuck out her tongue and shut down the husktop before climbing into the bed.

"Will I ever get to fill my quadrants?" she asked as he lay down beside her and pulled a blanket around himself. "I've never actually met another troll like I know you."

"I don't know," he admitted. "You'd have to leave to do that." He didn't really want to bring that up. It'd plagued his thoughts all day.

"Unless I wanted you or Jade," she added. "But it'd be weird with you two. Jade said that you're like my human dad, and I think that she's kind of my human mom, too. I read about them, once. How come trolls don't do that kind of stuff normally?" Janyah knew full well the story of how Karkat came to be raising her.

"Because we have lusus, idiot," he growled.

"Why did you have a lusus while I don't?" He fell silent. "Karkat?"

"I don't know," he finally told her.

"Okay," she said, followed by a yawn. "I'm going to sleep now."

"Finally," he muttered, making her laugh as he turned so his back was to her.

"Good night," she murmured.

"Night..." he said, even though she couldn't hear him.

* * *

Karkat was back in his old respiteblock, about a sweep before Sgrub happened. He was alone in the dark. Blood ran down his left arm just like the red tears ran down his face. What was he doing with himself? Why was he so fucking pathetic? He pressed against his forehead with his free hand, face twisted in emotional agony.

His computer beeped. Someone was messaging him. He didn't want to get up and answer it, he wanted to watch his mesmerizing blood more. So he ignored it, even as it beeped again, instead reaching for the knife on the floor beside him. A tap on the window interrupted him, and he looked up abruptly in confusion. This wasn't how the memory went.

There was a panicked face in the window, one he didn't recognize. He stood up, and suddenly he was older. The blood was gone, his cuts were scars. His shirt was still gone, though, as he went to the window. Why couldn't he see their face very well? He grabbed the handles, about to open it...

His eyes popped open and he sat up abruptly, covered in sweat tinged red, just like his tears had been. It was midday and he'd removed his shirt while he was sleeping because it had gotten too warm. Something felt wrong. He heard beeping, just like the beeping in his dream. It was coming from his chest, where his phone was. He opened it and grabbed the device, checking his messages.

TA: hey, kk.

TA: kk.

TA: dammiit.

TA: what happened two you beiing an iin2omniiac and beiing up at all hour2? FUCK.

TA: thii2 ii2 really fuckiing important 2o why don't you hurry the fuck up and an2wer me, you iin2ufferable fuckwad.

CG: SOLLUX?!

CG: WHAT THE FUCK?

TA: jegu2 FIINALLY.

CG: HOW THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING TO ME RIGHT NOW?

TA: ii'm a fuckiing hacker, kk.

TA: iit happen2 two be somethiing we can do.

TA: but that'2 not the fuckiing poiint 2o 2top dii2tractiing me.

TA: you and your moiiraiil or whatever the fuck 2he ii2 need to get out of there.

CG: WHAT? WHY?

CG: AND JANYAH'S NOT MY FUCKING MOIRAIL.

TA: 2omeone mu2t have ratted you out or 2omethiing.

TA: ii have no iidea who, but they know that you raii2ed her and that 2he'2 a red blood liike you.

TA: whiich ii gue22 ii2 agaiin2t the fuckiing rule2 or 2omethiing, ii don't fuckiing know.

TA: ju2t get out there, okay?

CG: HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS?

CG: WHAT IF YOU'RE WRONG?

TA: oh gog.

TA: no, NO.

TA: ii am not fuckiing doiing thii2.

TA: ii am not doiing the 2tupiid fuckiing dance you make me do everytiime ii tell you 2omethiing that'2 2uppo2ed two be fuckiing helpful.

TA: iit'2 liike everythiing ii 2ay ii2 put under iimmediiate 2crutiiny.

TA: ju2t take her and get the fuck out of there and don't even fuckiing que2tiion iit.

TA: iif they're not already there, then they wiill be 2oon.

There was tapping on the window, just like in his dream, that interrupted him before he could send a reply. He looked up and over the top of his husktop still open on his desk. When he found were wide eyes and a wide, sharp toothed grin to greet him, heavily shadowed by the sun that made him squint. He immediately stood from his chair and grabbed his scythe from his strife specibus.

"Come inside, I'll beat the shit out of you!" he dared them. The intruder snickered, disappearing from the window.

He immediately grabbed his cloak and shoved a couple of things in his pockets, including his phone and the scarf. He shook Janyah awake and dragged her out of the bed. She draped herself over him, though, unwilling to wake up. So instead, he propped her up on his back and went to the door. It was quite a ways down, though.

_I knew I'd fucking regret this stupid ass tree hive..._ Karkat thought irritably. This was going to hurt.

He was right. When he landed, pain shot up his entire right leg and his ankle started hurting mercilessly, causing him to stumble and fall to one knee. He cursed loudly, frozen in place until the pain had subsided enough for him to move.

"Dammit, Janyah, wake the fuck up!" he yelled, shaking the girl on his back. Curse her heavy sleeping habits!

He forced himself to his feet and, with a quick look behind him, started limping away from his hive. But honestly, where the fuck was he going to go? He really didn't have anywhere to go, and Sollux's warning had come a little too late for him to find somewhere. To make matters worse, though, he could barely see because of the stupid sun.

One of his ears twitched when he heard the snapping of twigs nearby. His pursuers probably didn't care about being quiet, now. There was no way he could outrun them. So he decided to switch to Plan B, which involved putting Janyah down beside a nearby tree and grabbing his sickle again to defend himself. In the other hand, he had his phone.

With one hand, he began texting Jade, 'HARLEY, THEY'RE TRYIN'. He accidentally sent it early in his rush. He didn't get a chance to correct himself before one of the attackers slapped it out of his hand.

"Fuck!" he cursed, swinging and missing. They moved way too fast, not to mention that he was pretty much fighting blind.

_Are they even trolls?_ he thought with a jolt. _FUCK YOU AND YOUR BRIGHTNESS, SUN!_ he continued angrily in his head. He couldn't even think straight with it in his eyes. He tried to remember the grin in the window, if it was a troll or not, but the sun had been messing with him then, as well.

"Karkat...?" Janyah's sleeping voice was like music to his ears. He turned to see her squinting at him groggily. "Ow, why are we outside?"

He was about to pull her to her feet and get her to run when someone, or something, swung from the branches above and slammed their feet into him, sending him sprawling to the ground. He swung wildly, but hit nothing but air. He heard Janyah scream, but a foot planted on his chest stopped him from getting up. A second foot kicked his sickle away.

Even now, his vision was filled with black spots and blooming flowers of colour and his eyes were starting to hurt. A lot. They were watering, too, and making what he could see blurry. Afraid that he might go blind, he closed them tightly, causing tears to run down his cheeks.

"Why the fuck are you doing this?!" he yelled angrily.

"She's a mutant blood," his captor hissed in a voice that could be either male or female. It certainly wasn't troll or human, he was sure. "She has no place on the hemospectrum."

"So am I!" he protested.

"And don't you think one is enough, Mr. Vantas? You are one of the Heroes of Alternia, you have done too much for the trolls for us to apprehend you. This one, though, is a different story," they purred.

"Bullshit!" he yelled. "Let her go, she's not doing anything wrong!"

"I think you know better than most that it's not a matter of what you did wrong, but of weakness in the trolls' society," they chuckled. "Not only is she a mutant, but she's also deaf. Useless," they sneered. "And you red bloods have already proved that you don't have the guts to even begin to serve the Alternian army! You can't kill worth anything!"

Janyah's screams stopped abruptly. This only made his struggles more desperate, but the creature holding him down was much stronger than he was.

"What are you doing with her?!" Karkat yelled frantically. The foot pressed down harder, suddenly making it hard to breathe.

"None of your buzzbug wax," they sneered. "Knock him out, we don't want him following even if his ankle is beat up."

He didn't know how many of them there were, they were too quiet. More than three or four of them, though, as two dragged him to his feet and a third grabbed him from behind. The two held his arms to stop him from struggling while the third wrapped their boney arm around his throat and pulled him into a tight hold. Within seconds, everything went black.

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**Remember: 10 reviews and you guys get another chapter. ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

** koryandrs/scatteredPhilosopher: The reason things didn't change will actually be explained later, don't worry. ;)**

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews! ^^ As promised, here's an extra chapter.**

**I will not quickly go write more because holy crapples I'm running out of chapters!**

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**Chapter 5**

Red eyes met green.

"Karkat!" Her voice was the greatest thing to ever grace his ears. An angel, perhaps?

Hands grabbed his shoulders and began shaking him roughly. His eyes still hurt, but it was darker out and less hard on them. He could see better, even if his sight was still blurry from being knocked out. His right ankle hurt for some reason. His mind was too addled to remember why.

"Jade?" he said groggily, realizing that he recognized her voice. Arms wrapped around his neck, hugging him tightly. She appeared to be in her god tier costume.

"Thank god you're okay!" she exclaimed, helping him sit up. "I didn't see your text until I woke up, I'm sorry I didn't come sooner!" He remembered in an instant, and it was like a punch to the gut. He grabbed Jade's shoulders.

"Oh shit, shit shit shit, Janyah! Where the fuck is she?" he demanded. She shook her head.

"No where near here. Karkat, tell me what happened," she said calmly, grabbing his hands and removing them from her shoulders. He took them back and buried his face in them. He had a headache starting just behind his eyes, spreading to his temples and getting worse the longer he was awake. She gave him a moment to gather his bearings before he finally explained everything that had happened to her.

"Get your all seeing glasses or whatever the fuck, we're going to find her," he growled, standing up. Jade followed him up, catching him when his ankle refused to take any of his weight.

"It won't work," she said, helping him limp back to his hive with an arm over her shoulders.

"Why the fuck not?" he snapped angrily.

"Karkat, I've never been able to see Janyah properly with my glasses," she explained. "There's always a black void around where she should be and it's only grown larger and cloudier the older she's gotten. Where I used to have a cloudy image of her, it's all just inky black for a good distance around her, obscuring even you if you're close to her. I can't explain it." His heart fell. There was no way they could find her.

"Dammit!" he cursed, his hands clenching into fists. "What the hell are we going to do, then?!"

"We'll find a way," she reassured him. He wasn't convinced, though.

"I should have tried harder," he spat bitterly.

"There's nothing you could have done. Don't beat yourself up over it," she said as they approached the tree hive. Using her powers, she teleported them to the little balcony in front of the door and took him inside. "I'm going to get a tensor bandage, I'll be back in a second," she said, handing him something before disappearing. It was his phone.

After briefly scrolling through Jade's messages to him, asking what had happened, he pulled up the chat between him and Sollux. His yellow blooded friend hadn't said anything since. Karkat began messaging him.

CG: HOW THE FUCK DID YOU KNOW?

Sollux's reply didn't come until a few minutes later.

TA: ii'm a mage of doom, kk.

TA: ii 2ee the2e thiing2 comiing and ii act upon what ii 2ee.

CG: WELL YOUR WARNING CAME TOO FUCKING LATE.

TA: can't do anythiing about that.

TA: ii me22aged you a2 2oon a2 ii receiived the vii2iion.

CG: WHO THE FUCK TOOK HER.

TA: ii don't know.

TA: they diidn't take you, though.

TA: ii thought they would.

CG: NO.

CG: THEY WANTED HER BECAUSE SHE'S DEAF.

CG: OR SOME BULLSHIT LIKE THAT.

TA: huh.

TA: ii don't buy iit.

CG: WHAT? WHY?

TA: let'2 ju2t 2ay 2ome weiird 2hiit'2 beiing goiing down lately.

TA: there are other troll2 beiing taken, two, from all acro22 the 2pectrum.

TA: not ju2t her.

CG: ...

TA: can't 2tay.

TA: ii've got 2tuff two do.

Jade returned soon after and he showed her the conversation while he gingerly took his shoe off to begin wrapping his ankle in the tensor. It hurt like a bitch.

"If this is all related, maybe we can find her?" Jade suggested. "We should speak with Sollux about this..."

"When are we going?" he demanded.

"You aren't going anywhere with that ankle, Karkat," she said. When he opened his mouth to protest, she continued, "Idiot, you can barely walk! I'll do some investigating, okay?"

"Those bastards aren't getting away without some serious ass kicking!" he yelled. She gave him a grim look.

"Trust me when I say that I agree wholeheartedly with that. Now stay here and rest, okay? I'm going to talk to Kanaya about this," she told him, disappearing before he could protest further.

And while he was tempted to get out of there and go hunting for them himself, he knew, he just knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere. Not only was Jade right about his ankle, but he had no where to start, either. He was exhausted, though, and he figured that the best thing he could do for now was try and take a nap until she got back.

* * *

It was unlike Dave to be gone for this long. A week at most, but he'd been gone for nearly two, now. Terezi sat at his desk, staring vacantly at the computer screen she couldn't see. He'd gone to a convention revolving around his popular comic, Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. Though he often called on her for help with the comic, she never went to them. Trolls weren't fully accepted on Earth and she wasn't all that interested, anyways.

Instead, she used that time to catch up with friends. She had to admit, she missed Alternia. She wondered what things would be like if she hadn't come to Earth with the rest of the humans, mostly for Dave. She would probably be a legislacerator. Would she have been a good one? She would have done something like that here but she wasn't interested in Earth politics; they were nothing like Alternia.

Although, during the nights she couldn't sleep, she often got up to no good. Or all the good, in her opinion. One of the humans, Jake, had shown her comics of Earth heroes and it had gotten her interested. Who knew humans could think of something that was so similar to Alternian politics! The only difference was that the hero did the judging, not the Honourable Tyrant. She liked it better that way, though.

She was in the news, even. She called herself Redglare, just like her ancestor. All of this reminded her a lot of her FLARPing days, except with a lot less deceit and manipulation from her partner in crime Vriska.

She made a face at the thought of her, accompanied by the usually ache in her heart, one that had dulled but never truly disappeared with time. She hated that she missed her just as much as she missed the rest of her friends, although maybe in a different way. She'd already promised Dave that she wouldn't have any black relationships, not after what had happened with Gamzee. Something that she shuddered to think about.

"Tracker's not working."

"Huh?" Terezi blinked out of her daydreams. She could smell Dirk nearby. He smelled like oil and electronics, so she figured that he'd been fiddling with his gadgets again.

"I said the tracker's not working," he repeated absently. She heard him toss something on the desk. When she picked it up, it felt like a phone. "Shit, wait, don't lick-"

"Too late," she said as she dragged her tongue across the screen. She tasted a complicated map and a little red dot on it. "What is it?"

"The tracker," he said, obviously annoyed by the fact that she wasn't listening. "For Dave."

"You put a tracker on him? That's creepy," she giggled.

"In his phone, actually. He's an important person. I don't care if he's a god tier, I always take measures to protect our friends," he said a matter-of-factually. "So either the tracker's not working, or Dave dropped it because that dot hasn't moved an inch in over a week."

She hadn't even known he was trying to find Dave. It was always hard to tell how the 'brothers' really felt about each other, although their relationship had always come off as a bit strained to her. He'd only lived with them for the first few sweeps before quickly finding his own place to stay. Needless to say, she wasn't sure she'd ever truly understand the Striders' relationship.

She and Dirk, however, did get along and were okay in each other's companion. Although Dirk had stated that Terezi was one of the few people who could truly frustrate him on a few occasions. She, personally, took pride in that. Often, he would stay in the apartment during the days Dave was gone and they would chill together. Otherwise, they didn't generally talk and went about their own business.

"Why didn't anyone pick it up, though?" she said.

"I'm trying to figure that out. I sent a drone to retrieve it, we'll be getting the camera footage soon. It might have been left in a hotel room or something," Dirk suggested.

"How soon?"

"I can't provide a proper estimate. Just soon." She grinned.

"Good work, smart guy!" she jibed. She couldn't see it, but she was almost sure that that mask of is cracked into a tiny frown at that moment.

"If I were to properly factor in variables such as weather, I would have to say that soon will be within an hour or so," he sighed. She heard the restrained irritation in his tone that only made her grin widen. She loved toying with him and he knew it, but usually he was more careful about letting her get the upper hand.

"You're adorable when you're worried!" she laughed.

"He's a Knight of Time and a skilled swordsman. I'm not worried," he insisted.

"Sure you are, Mr. Cool Guy! I can smell your worry, you know!"

"I've always doubted the extent of your ability to smell things like that," he deadpanned. "There must be something to how you can determine what on a screen by 'taste' alone."

"Well I can!" she crowed.

"You know, it's obvious that you're worried, too," he quipped. Her grin faltered a little. She heard him sit down on the couch in the room. "He will be fine."

"I know that," she muttered, looking away.


	6. Chapter 6

**If you guys wanted feels then you're in the right place. Have some Arasol. ^^**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Sollux had neglected to tell Karkat another thing that may be important for him to know, and that was the disappearance of two of the original players within the past couple of weeks. And not only that, but the resident Thief of Light had gone off the grid, as well. Though he couldn't quite attribute that the a kidnapping, since the blue blood had been trying to make herself vanish, he was pretty sure that this wasn't a coincidence.

As much as Vriska had liked to think that she had everyone else believing that she'd dropped off the face of Alternia, he liked to keep track of his friends. It was part of the reason he knew Karkat's general location. The only troll he couldn't keep track of very well was Equius, but the indigo blood didn't make himself scarce as the robotic go to guy around here. Jade had been extremely helpful, though, in keeping track of everyone. He figured that he could ask her about Vriska's position the next time he spoke with her.

But now Aradia and, according to Terezi, Dave were gone. Not to mention the several kidnappings of young trolls, all around Janyah's age give or take a sweep. He hadn't slept for days, staying up day and night to try and track them. But really, there was nothing to track, nothing to go off of.

His visions didn't help him, either. As it was, the one he'd gotten about Karkat and Janyah had been choppy and cloudy, cutting to complete black towards the end. He didn't know who had attacked them, and since they'd attacked in the day he was pretty sure that Karkat and Janyah would have been half blind throughout the ordeal. Still, he told himself that he would contact Karkat later and have the angry troll tell him as much as he could about the attackers.

Tonight, he was wrenching himself away from the computer to deal with another issue. One that he knew he shouldn't be neglecting, and one that he was almost sure would be in complete disarray when he showed up. He really wished he'd told the rest of the team that he wasn't going to be there and to just take a break.

_I'm such a fucking idiot..._ he growled inwardly, his eyes sparking a bit in irritation. _I'll be lucky if it doesn't look like something the lusus dragged in for Perigree's Eve when I get there..._

As one of the best hackers and computer programmers Alternia had to offer these days, he was involved and in charge of a number of projects. Even after so many sweeps, Alternia the Second was still in the beginning stages of civilization and there was a lot that needed to be done.

One of the first things being done, though, were the peace operations with the humans and their new government, of which none of the players wanted to be a part of and with good reason. He had read about the terrible human politics that had evolved over the sweeps. It had started out great, apparently, but Jade had noted in his presence that it seemed that humans were incapable of ruling over a lot of people nicely. As much as he hated to admit it, though, their own government was in just as much disarray due to the awkward clusterfuck of Alternian and Beforan rules.

Needless to say, it took resources, and a lot of them, to get a ship and fly to Earth, or vice versa, for those discussions of diplomacy. Not to mention the trivialities and risks involved with any such trips. So he, and a few others that he would need in order to figure out, plan, and build what he had had in mind, had proposed an idea. Using the technology they'd brought with them into this new universe, mostly with the help of, once again, Jade, they would built a transportilizer that had the sole purpose of connecting Earth and Alternia. The idea was greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm.

He was pretty sure that he would be petitioning the higher ups for a longer deadline based off of whatever damage would be done to the work in that past week he'd been away, however. His idiot team couldn't function worth shit unless he was around to babysit them.

He opened the door into the work room and just about closed it and walked away. In the centre of the cluttered floor were Equius and his dancestor, Horuss, locked in an arm wrestling match that had obviously been going on for quite a while. Surrounding them was the rest of the team, mostly insufferable assholes that he cared little for, with the addition of his own crazy ass dancestor dancing wildly around them. With a groan, he removed his glasses to rub his eyes tiredly.

"Your timing is impeccable," a voice nearby chuckled.

Leaning against the door was one of the youngest members of his team, Abbott Vindua. He was a jade blood with an unholy obsession with the colour orange, even going so far as to wear orange contacts and claim that it was his blood colour. Abbott was only nine or ten sweeps old, but was one of the few team members that could comprehend what he was saying and function normally without Sollux supervision.

"Please tell me they haven't blown it up yet," Sollux moaned, replacing his glasses and frowning at the scene before him.

"I convinced Equius to order the others away from it when you weren't back after 24 hours," he said, following Sollux as he skirted the unruly mob. "He seemed content with that course of action. It takes a lot to keep them busy, though. Most of them have nothing better to do."

"Thank you for not being a stupid dumbass that can't use his think pan," he muttered, letting Abbott unlock the door leading to the back room. The jade blood smirked.

"It's the least I can do, Sollux. You seemed pretty upset when you left so I figured something was up and the last thing you wanted was to return to see all your hard work gone to waste," he chuckled, opening the door. The yellow blood entered and the lights turned on as soon as they detected a warm blooded signature in the room.

They had taken a different approach to the transportalizer, trying to make it work as a sendificator and appearifier all at once. Not only would this eliminate the need for another gateway on Earth, significantly reducing the cost, but it would also allow trolls and human to be sent to and appeared from anywhere of their choosing.

They also planned on implementing watch-like devices to avoid having someone send or appear-ified against their will. Also, it had been decided that there would be no time mechanisms involved with the machinery. Not only did that complicate things, but it also brought on the possibility of paradoxes and would take a lot of time-syncing, etc., etc., etc.

Sollux was glad to see it still in one piece, metaphorically. This project was practically his human baby and he would be particularly upset to see it ruined.

"Sollux," Abbott spoke up, closing the door behind him and walking further into the room to grab one of the electronic panels, "what _was_ that about, anyways? You left fairly quickly."

"If this is your way of soliciting a moirallegiance with me..." Sollux hissed, glaring at him from behind his glasses. Abbott held up his hands.

"If you're not interested, I'm okay with that," he said. "I was asking more as a friend, though. Are you implying that telling me would be turning this into a feelings jam?" Sollux ran one hand through his short hair.

"Just some weird shit going down," he said. The other troll nodded, sitting himself down at the nearby desk.

"A'right. How's the matesprit, then?" Abbott asked, grabbing a couple of things to start with the micro-work on the electronic panel. His endless patience and attention to detail made him a great candidate for that kind of work.

"...That's part of the weird shit going down." Sollux snatched up the plans, using it as an excuse not to look at Abbott as he read what needed to be done next. He had a feeling, though, that he wouldn't be getting much work done that day.

"Not meaning this as a pale advance or anything, but I've always got an ear open to listen," Abbott said, not looking up at him as he began his work. "Not sure how I'll be able to help, though. To be honest, I've never been interested in matesprits or kismeses."

"As if your orange fetish wasn't enough," Sollux muttered beneath his breath, "but you're also the one troll freak who doesn't want to fill up all his quadrants..."

"Say something?" Turning his head away from his work.

"Nothing. AA's missing," he said gruffly, offhandedly.

"That's a shame, she's the one thing that makes you tolerable."

"Go fuck yourself."

"Haven't we all tried?" Abbott chuckled. He laughed harder when he saw the look on Sollux's face. This guy was way too laid back and his sexual references were almost as bad as Mituna when he was in one of his moods. "Seriously, though. What happened?" Sollux slapped the paper down on the table.

"Dammit! How can you be so fucking calm about all of this?!" he snapped, his eyes sparking with rage. "I don't fucking know, and that's the worse part!" Abbott didn't even flinch.

"Sounds bad, Sol," he commented. The yellow blood turned away, muttering 'don't call me that' followed by a particularly inventive insult beneath his breath. "Anything I can do to help?"

"No."

"So you have no idea at all what happened? No leads?"

"No," he said darkly.

"Are you sure?"

"Stop fucking asking!" he snapped. "Fuck, I can't do this right now," he growled. "This was meant to take my mind of things and all you keep doing it bringing it up!"

"I think you need some sleep, Sollux," Abbott told him. "I'm getting the feeling you haven't slept since I last saw you. It's put you in a very dismal mood. Your mood swings are worse than usual."

"Yes, thank you, I know I'm the most intolerable piece of shit you've ever seen and you just put up with me because I'm the only fucking reason you're on this team. I fucking _get it_," Sollux sneered.

"You know that's not what I mean. You're one of the smartest trolls I know and I'm always tickled to test my own intellect against your tried and true think pan," Abbott said pleasantly. "But I'm not afraid to point out that you are prone to terrible mood swings and with the combination of your matesprit's disappearance and the lack of sleep only serves to worsen your nigh crippling bipolarity of personality.

"And while I'll always be grateful for you petitioning the higher ups to allow me to be a part of this project despite my age, I think it's time to say that I won't be doing anymore work, and no one else is doing any work, until you go back to your block and get a good sleep." To accentuate his point, he stood and folded his arms across his chest, refusing to proceed with his work.

But to be honest, Sollux was far too exhausted to keep up any mask of anger for long. He could deny Abbott and try to work, but he'd already admitted to himself that work just wasn't something that was getting done that night. Really, all he did want was to sleep. Sleeping made him feel like he wasn't getting enough done, though.

_Jegus, now I'm turning into KK..._ he thought irritably. He was sure that his friend would be back to his own insomniac ways soon, though. What with having to deal with Janyah's kidnapping and all.

"What the fuck ever," he mumbled tiredly, turning and leaving the room before Abbot could slip anymore smartass remarks into the conversation. He tried to get past Team Retardation quietly, which had finished cheering on the arm wrestling match, but Equius spoke up just as he was getting to the door.

"Lowblood," he said commandingly as he strode over, chin high and jaw set. When he stopped, it was almost as if he were standing at attention. Sollux looked up at the taller, larger troll. "I require that you explain your absence."

"I don't need to explain anything to your sweaty ass," Sollux sneered, curling his lip as he caught a whiff of Equius's traditional scent. How did Nepeta put up with it? "I don't even have the energy to deal with this right now. Just go back to being the head of Team Dumb Schlub and don't touch the interplanetary gate."

"If you intend to order me around, lowblood, then I demand that you do it in a commanding and STRONG tone, and not the meek attitude you present to me now."

"Fuck no, I'm not appeasing your creepy fetish for getting ordered around," he snapped. "I shudder to even consider what you think about before you go to sleep," he added beneath his breath. He turned back to the door.

"When will you return?" Equius demanded, making Sollux cringe. Why couldn't this creep just leave him alone?

"Fuck if I know." _I need to get out of here before I tear my horns off..._

"I would like to express my concern over your recent lack of assiduity. May I remind you, lowblood, that this venture is of the utmost importance and the highbloods will not balk at dealing out the required punishment should you not complete it within the allotted time so graciously given," Equius admonished firmly. "There is absolutely no excuse for your disregard."

"Look, you sweaty ass meathead," Sollux snarled, rounding on him. "Your precious _flush crush_ Aradia went missing nearly a fucking week ago and I haven't slept a wink since then. So why don't you leave me the hell alone and let _me_ deal with the highbloods instead of showing mock concern for my well-fucking-being!"

And with that, he turned on the heel and left in a huff.

* * *

Sollux was happier now that the game was over, happier than he had been in many, many sweeps. The revival of Feferi had left him conflicted, but she had understood when he had finally chosen Aradia. That he knew her better, had known her longer.

That had been one of the reasons he loved Feferi, that she was happy and accepting and understanding. Aradia was like that, too, but...different. Both troll ladies were many things that he was not, and he supposed that that was what gave him this feeling of wholeness when he was with them.

Aradia liked to dance. That was one of the key differences between her and Feferi. Where the sea dweller had never been as graceful on land as she was in water, he liked to think that Aradia could maintain her poise in any situation.

He wasn't particularly bad at dancing, but he didn't enjoy it nearly as much as his rust blood companion did. Seeing her smile, though, was enough that he would dance everyday if she asked it of him. But it was even better seeing her dance alone, the way she glided across the floor as if in flight. She was so talented in so many things and he almost thought that it was unfair that dancing be another of her gifts.

She was fond of fast dances. On nights when neither of them were busy, she would drag him to an open space and play a song, patiently teaching him to play his part in their duets. He liked the fast dances, too. They were full of energy and high spirits. If he were to liken Aradia to a song, it would certainly be a fast one filled with the same brilliance as she.

Tonight's song was slower than usual, but no less appealing. She patiently taught him when to dip and when to twirl, when to slide and when to stop. Kanaya had made her a dress for her dancing, one that flared as she twirled and dipped and slid and stopped. It matched her blood colour. She looked marvellous in it, the one time he would even consider fashion. He had nothing but his usual garb, but he knew that she didn't care.

"And dip!" she announced, arching her back in his arms as he lowered her until her black curls brushed the ground. He smirked at the perfect execution before pulling her up and into his other arm. "That's not what comes next, Sollux!" she protested. He planted a quick kiss on her cheek.

They danced in a small clearing outside their shared hive. The soft grass cushioned any accidental tumbles.

"You didn't tell me quick enough."

"You didn't wait!" she laughed, capturing his lips with her own. "The song's going to end soon."

"I know," he said, closing the distance between them again. "You told me before."

"No I didn't!" she spoke against his lips. He stopped, fumbling for a reply.

"Didn't you?" he pressed. He shook his head. "Oh, shit... No, I remember..."

He released her so he could look around. They were still in the clearing, but it gave way to cold metallic floors and harsh angles, contrasting with the natural curves of nature. It reminded him of the labs on the meteor, but they weren't his memories. They were hers.

When he turned back to Aradia, she wasn't wearing her flaring red dress anymore. All she had on was an extra long shirt and her smile was strained. Her eyes were sad and the bags beneath them were darker than usual. He turned to her, grabbing her shoulders.

"AA!" he exclaimed. "Shit, what the hell?!" Frantically assessing her for physical injury. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know."

"Who took you?!"

"I...don't know."

"Where are you!"

"_I don't know,Sollux_," she murmured, her smile faltering. "Everything will be okay, though," she reassured him. He hugged her tightly, and though she hugged him back her tense shoulders only relaxed a little.

_Dumbass, I'm the one that should be reassuring you!_ he thought angrily.

"I'm going to find you," he said determinedly. "Sit tight and I'll find you, AA, I swear."

"There are others here," she told him. "I hear them. They come and talk to me sometimes. The young trolls you were talking about... I think they're here too."

"Are... Are you sure they aren't..." _Voice of the dead?_

"They are very much alive," she told him, pulling back and cupping his face in her hands. "Thank you for the dance, Sollux, but I'm afraid that I'm going to wake up soon. Our time is running out."

"Another dance?" he just about begged. She smiled, taking his hands in hers.

"Of course," she whispered, one red tear leaking out the corner of her eye.

And they danced until he only held air.


	7. Chapter 7

**I didn't forget about the extra chapter, no worries. The previous chapter was basically a post and run. School's coming up and I won't have as much time anymore! D: Oh teh horror...**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Jade?"

Kanaya looked up from her desk in surprise as Jade materialized before her. Usually the young woman warned her ahead of time of any upcoming visits. The tragic look on her face, though, told the jade blood that something was very wrong. She looked near tears, even, and she could tell that Jade was trying to fight them.

When she stood, Jade fell into her arms and sobbed. Kanaya held as she cried, a little shocked. Jade had proven herself tough and the troll had never actually seen her fall apart like this. She remembered seeing her after she'd accidentally, and indirectly, killed Dave during the game, but it had been more hysterical and she'd made a point at the time to tell her about the effects of a kiss on the recently deceased, which had calmed her down significantly.

"I am afraid you will need to explain what happened before I can offer words of reassurance," Kanaya said as Jade began to calm down. The human nodded against her shoulder, sniffling a little before pulling away and quickly wiping away the tears.

"I'm sorry, Kanaya. I got your pretty dress all wet," she said, trying to laugh but her tone lacked humour.

"It's just a dress. Do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked, motioning for her to sit down in the chair at the desk. She had been in her hive when Jade had appeared, in her respiteblock to be exact. After a moment's hesitation, she sat down with her elbows on her knees.

"Janyah's gone," she finally whispered. Kanaya breathed in sharply, her eyes widening.

Of course Jade had told her about the little wriggler Karkat, and Jade, too, had adopted. Both had assumed that Karkat would tell the jade blood one day, anyways, and he eventually had so she'd gotten that story twice. She and her human friend had talked many a night about the young girl, but Kanaya hadn't met Janyah yet, though she was looking forward to it.

She could only guess how a troll raised by other trolls, especially Karkat, would turn out and it certainly piqued her curiosity. She remembered telling Rose about it, since they talked often, after getting permission from Jade, of course.

The jade blood almost blushed when she remembered how Rose had suggested doing something much the same. Maybe after Kanaya finally felt it would be okay to leave the Mother Grub in the hands of the other jade blood caretakers so she could live permanently with her human matesprit.

"Apparently she was taken," Jade continued. "Karkat tried to stop them, but... Well I'm sure you know how that went! He said that the ones who took her didn't even seem to be trolls, but were working on their behalf?" She shook her head. "Ugh! And they said something about taking her because she's deaf!"

"To be culled?" Kanaya said, raising an eyebrow.

"To be...what?"

"Culled is when, erm... Wait..." Kanaya sighed, closing her eyes to think. "The definition is a bit mixed. Back on my Alternia, it meant killing the weaker members of our race. On Beforus, where our dancestors lived, though, it meant to take care of the weaker members. I...am not quite sure which definition I intended on using, but I do know that this Alternia doesn't really do culling of either type. We're caught somewhere in the middle, really."

"So you have no idea what they're going to do?"

"I am afraid not," Kanaya confirmed. "I don't even know if they are actually working on the behalf of trolls or not. Certainly not on behalf of the highbloods, though. It was decided that the practice be wiped out, on suggestion from our Beforan 'relatives'."

"If she's not being culled... Then..." Jade trailed off with a small frown.

"I do believe there is a greater force at work here," Kanaya agreed with her silent conclusion. "It seems that, even without the game, there will always be problems."

"Yes, but... Why Janyah?"

"It is hard to say. It certainly depends on the goals of those who took her in the first place, though."

Of which they had no way of figuring out. She sighed, her eyes going downcast once more. Was there some way they could find out? Probably not anymore, unfortunately. If they had Janyah, then the entire area where they were keeping her would be obscured. And while there was always the possibilty that it was something that only affected her glasses, she didn't really think so.

What really piqued her interest, though, was the fact that Rose's 'mom' was the exact same way. Roxy's 'void' covered a much larger distance than Janyah's, however. She frowned at the uncanny similarities. And not only that, but at one point during the game, she hadn't seen Rose, either. She wanted to talk to the two, now, just to see what they had to about it.

"How is Karkat handling this?" Kanaya asked.

"I think he's more stunned than anything else," Jade replied. "He freaked out a little, got mad, but was mostly... I guess dazed."

"He has always put a lot of weight in close relationships. And I think that was one of the things that made him so successful at binding together our group despite the fact that we were scattered all across the hemospectrum. It astonishes me to this day how stalwartly he has stuck to his vows to leave us all behind considering this, but he has always been stubborn.

"Regardless, I have no doubts that he and Janyah have formed a bond that I can only describe as one much like a relationship between a human father and daughter, the very kind that I have read about on your human internet and that Rose has kindly explained to me," she mused. Her eyes closed. "I wonder how he will react when he processes it all?"

Kanaya shook her head, as if simultaneously shaking the thoughts from her head. "You may have luck speaking with Sollux about this. He's more up to date with things that are happening than I am."

"Yeah, okay. Thank you, Kanaya," Jade said, standing and giving her a smile. Kanaya returned it.

"Um, Jade..." she said before the young woman could leave. She paused. "If you could be so kind as to relay a greeting to Rose when you next see her...?"

"Absolutely!" Jade said, grinning widely at her before disappearing.

* * *

Catryn Teekan had the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

That feeling distracted her as she tried to focus on weaving baskets. She wove baskets, among other things, for her moirail to sell at the market. They were at the market now, actually, but today was a slow day so she was in the back weaving. Not that she ever went to the front, she was much too shy to take care of customers like Rensir could.

She was a small girl, only a yellow blood. Like most lowbloods did, she possessed powers, but they weren't very strong and at the most she could lift her baskets with telekinesis to bring them closer, or have them hover so she could take a better look at them. Her horns were thin and waving, curving away from her forehead and tapering off into sharp tips. She was about nine sweeps old and her eyes had already filled in. Her hair was cropped short with her bangs usually hanging in her eyes.

Catryn often got bad feelings. She rarely knew what they meant, but usually she would get bad news not long after. Sometimes her bad feelings made her feel bad, too, and she went to sleep off her headaches or, sometimes, even nausea. She didn't get bad feelings often, though. Today was the first time in months.

"Um, uh, Rensir?" she called to the male leaning against the counter a few feet in front of her, waiting for any costumers to come. Her voice was soft and quiet.

"...Hm?"

Rensir wasn't a large troll, just an average teal blood. He had a weird nose and odd shaped ears that he was often teased for. Sometimes it made him angry, but Catryn always knew how to calm him down. His hair was smooth and straight, curling inwards a little at his shoulders. He was teased about his hair, too. Finally there were his horns, which curved outwards away from each other.

"Do you know of something bad that happened at all?" she asked, a little afraid to hear the answer.

"...No." Rensir was a troll of few words, even when he was angry.

"Um, okay. Has, um... Have you seen her at all today? She promised to come."

"...Haven't seen her." Her ears drooped and she gave him a disappointed look.

"A-Are you sure?" she pressed. She didn't usually press. The corner of his frown twitched into a half frown.

"...Yes."

"But she promised to come..." Catryn whispered, her eyes going downcast. "Soon it'll be too late and morning will come and... What if something bad happened to her, Rensir?"

"...I don't know." He even shrugged. Not once did he look at her during the conversation.

"I-I should look for her," she stuttered, putting down the basket and standing up. Only now did Rensir look at her.

"...She's fine," he insisted.

"But how do you know?" she challenged meekly. "Janyah... She never breaks her promises..."

"...You don't know where she lives," he said as she made to walk past him. She knew he wouldn't physically stop her.

"She told me," Catryn shot back. "She was going to t-take me there to meet someone today!"

"...You didn't tell me..."

"I'm going to go look for her, okay?" Catryn said calmly, holding out her hands as she walked past him. "Please don't start any, um, any fights, okay?" He didn't stop her as she left.

She'd never been away from the town before. The older trolls warned her about wandering into the forest, telling her stories of rabid, angry lusus that would eat her. She'd never been one to go against the word of the older, more experienced trolls, or rules in general for that matter. She'd even been hesitant to agree with Janyah to go with her in the first place, but she had so badly wanted to meet this troll that she always kept a secret from her!

But the forest was pretty, and rather peaceful for that matter! She gave a shaky smile to an odd looking bird sitting on a nearby branch. It watched her pass, but it didn't make a peep like the other birds. She moved on, finding the path that Janyah had detailed to her in their last conversation. It had been worn down over the sweeps, but it was still sort of hard to find and took her a few minutes of searching.

With every step, her excitement grew at the thought of finally seeing her friend's home. She thought she may get to Janyah's hive without incident, and finally get to meet her troll friend! That is, until she heard yelling and growling that made her jump. Hesitantly, she peered through the bushes to investigate. Gasping and ducking her head down at what she saw.

It was a (rabid?) lusus, a big one that looked a lot like a bark beast, and it had a troll cornered against a tree. She was pretty sure the troll scared her more, though, with his ragged appearance, wild black hair, and sharp toothed overbite. The ugly snarl on his face was outright terrifying. Was he a savage? She thought that Janyah had told her that no one else lived in these woods!

The savage had a sickle clutched in his hand and was waving it towards the bark beast, yelling threateningly at it. He was seated on the ground, though, which struck her as odd. She felt that she should do something to help, but she didn't know what to do. But she did know that she had to act quickly, so she picked up a nearby stick and ran towards the bark beast, yelling as loudly as she could. Which wasn't actually very loud, because she was a quiet person.

Seeing that it was surrounded, the bark beast turned tail and ran. Catryn immediately dropped the stick and turned to the savage, who was giving her a weird look. He was wearing some kind of cloak, but his hood wasn't up, giving her full view of his eyes. She breathed in sharply, though, when her curiosity about his blood colour got the better of her.

It flashed before her eyes so quickly she wasn't sure if she'd seen it at all. But the image was imprinted into her brain nonetheless. All she saw was a quick, bloody scene of this troll crouched over someone, all she could tell was that they had wild black hair, too, covered in blood. The only reason she knew it was this very troll, though, wasn't because she physically recognized him, but because she recognized that the mutant red blood leaking out of his wounds could only be his.

She didn't really know how to process all that, not just the image but his blood colour, too, so she just stared at him dumbly.

"Who the fuck are you?" he snarled angrily, quickly putting up his hood. Probably to hide the mutant blood colour that she'd already seen. It managed to snap her out of it.

"Uh, um... Uhhh..."

"What?! Is that all that can exit your ignorance tunnel?!" he snapped. "Who the bloody chafing fuck are you and what the fuck are you doing here, of all fucking places?!"

"I-I was... I was..." she stuttered, unable to get the words out. He painstakingly used the tree to haul himself to his feet, heavily favouring one foot which she could now see was bandaged up. He was taller than her.

"Sweet troll jegus, just spit it the fuck out already," he muttered.

"Janyah!" she blurted out, abruptly covering her mouth. Her face turned yellow with embarrassment. She didn't even notice the stricken look on his face and she squeezed her eyes shut and continued as fast as possible, "I'm looking for her because she promised to introduce me to her friend but she never showed up so I decided to come looking for her because I was afraid something bad happened and then I saw you about to be eaten by a bark beast so I decided to help even though you look like a savage!"

"Shit... You know Janyah?" he muttered, looking to the side with an unreadable expression.

"Um... Um... Mmhm..." she acknowledged, nodding. He rubbed his eyes. "A-Are you her...her friend?"

"I guess? How the fuck do you know her?" he asked. He seemed a lot calmer, almost sad now, as he leaned his back against the tree.

"Er... Well, she, uhm..."

"Fuck, speak up. I'm not fucking deaf but you're about as loud as a buzzbug sleeping," he snarled.

"S-Sorry!" she squeaked, trying to raise her voice a little. "Janyah v-visits me and my moirail at the... at the market sometimes," she explained. "We...um... We're, uh, matesprits..." she whispered the last part, covering her face when she saw the look on the savage's face.

"YOU'RE FUCKING WHAT?!" he practically screamed.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed pathetically. "B-But why...?"

"Because I'm her fucking dad- Shit," he snarled, facepalming and muttering, "Dammit, Jade," beneath his breath.

"Her...her what?" She was thoroughly convinced that Janyah's friend was insane and that the only reason she could probably put up with him and his yelling was because she was deaf.

"Just- Never mind," he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest and closing his eyes tightly as a deep red blush spread across his cheeks. She could practically see the tick mark on his forehead as was commonly used in her favourite troll animes. "I raised her, okay?" She stared blankly at him.

"...Huh...?" Definitely insane.

"Never fucking mind!" he yelled. "Jegus... Look, Janyah's fucking gone, okay?! So why don't you go the fuck home?"

"Gone?" she whispered, eyes widening. "B-but... What do you mean...?" He sighed deeply.

"...She...was taken. Day before by a bunch of righteous fucks because apparently being deaf means she's fucking useless," he spat bitterly. "Fuck, just...leave me alone. Thanks for scaring off the bark beast but I just can't deal with this shit," he hissed. She watched him half limp half hop away painfully, cursing beneath his breath every once in a while.

"W-wait," she called quietly, running after him. He growled irritably when she grabbed his wrist and slung his arm over her shoulders to help him walk.

"I don't need your help..." he muttered. He didn't push her away or anything, though, so she helped him back to his hive.

When they got there, there was someone standing in front. Catryn was puzzled because they clearly weren't a troll with their hornless head and pale skin. In fact, instead of horns she had...dog ears? However, the savage seemed to recognize her immediately as he cursed beneath his breath. The non-troll woman turned when she heard the commotion they made coming through the bushes. There was a mixture of relief and anger on her face as she strode over.

"Hey, Jade..." Catryn jumped back when Jade slapped him. He gaped at her, cradling his now red cheek. "What the fuck, Harley?!"

"Idiot!" she yelled. "I told you not to leave with your leg in that condition!" Catryn stood by nervously. The poor woman looked near tears. "I thought they'd taken you, too!"

"I was getting my sickle!" he protested, holding up the weapon and pointing at it. "Fuck, you can't expect me to sit in there completely defenseless and I hardly think that required a fucking slap, dammit!"

"Well I'm not sorry about it! Honestly, Karkat, someone really needed to slap some sense into you! I could have gotten the damn thing for you!" she insisted.

"If you were so fucking worried about my, why didn't you get your fucking glasses instead of flipping your shit like a raging, hormonal human female during the 'time of the month', as you idiot humans fucking call it!" he raged at her. Catryn took another step back. It really was degrading into a full out yelling match between the two.

"I just got here!" she growled through gritted teeth. "And I didn't bring my glasses! AND I'M NOT ON MY PERIOD!"

"Fuck this," he snarled, limping past her towards the ladder. She deflated, the anger leaving her. She seemed to finally noticed Catryn and looked embarrassed.

"Hello. I'm sorry you had to see that," she said sheepishly. Catryn just nodded hastily, unsure what to do. "I'm Jade Harley, and that stupid, bullheaded, _prick_ you just brought here is Karkat Vantas."

"Uh... I-I'm Catryn Teekan..." she whispered. "What _are_ you?"

"I'm a human," she explained. "Our two races are currently working on peace operations. Karkat and I have known each other for years, er, sweeps, though. I think I've seen you at the market, though. What brings you here?"

"I-I was looking for Janyah because she didn't show up yesterday," she murmured. It was a lot easier talking to her than it was the angry troll. However, now Jade had the same look on her face that Karkat had had when she'd mentioned Janyah before.

"I didn't realize you were friends."

"We, uh... She likes to visit me and m-my moirail," she said quietly, shuffling her feet. She didn't tell Jade that she and Janyah were matesprits, she was too scared of her reaction after Karkat had yelled at her.

"FUCK!" Both looked over to see Karkat lying belly up in front of the ladder that he had probably just fallen from.

"Thank you again," Jade said. "If we find Janyah, you'll be the first to know," she reassured with a kind smile. Catryn gave her a shaky one in return, but she knew when she was being dismissed.

"O-Okay, thank you," she murmured, turning and walking away.

Only then did she let the tears flow.


	8. Chapter 8

**And the next chapter is here! I have, thankfully, managed to build up a few more chapters to stay ahead of the game, so I'll be ready when that first review comes in. :3 As for this chapter, I think I should mention that I will be referencing the first short story in my one shot series 'Human Emotion Called Love' where Jade/Karkat meet in a dream bubble during the 3 year long trip. You don't have to read it because it's not playing a huge role or anything, but I just thought I'd warn you.**

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**Chapter 8**

When Meenah had been brought back to life alongside all the others, she had thought that maybe living would be a great deal more fun than being dead for sweeps on end. No one had told her that when she was alive that she would be dealing with the same boring bunch as before. Karkat's team wasn't the greatest fun, either, if cooler than hers.

Things actually hadn't changed much. She hung around, swelled her treasury, and occasionally talked with boring people that decided they wanted to be boring around her on that particular day. Sometimes she dreamed in the dream bubbles, but she was still surrounded by the same boring old people. Except this time, most of them were dead.

At the moment, she lounged in a large chair within her equally large hive, casually examining a shiny gold crown she'd gotten her hands on a few days ago. She was pretty sure it was fake, but she was too bored to be mad as she tossed it away. At least she wasn't dealing with boring people; they couldn't come down into her underwater hive. Well, most of them.

"Crodog," she sighed. Her fellow seadweller had been hanging around her way too much as of late. Even now he looked up from his place in front of her chair, a brief lapse in the attention he was giving to his waterproof notebook. "Gotta stop comin' in here uninvited, get what I'm sayin'? Need a little me time, yo. Like, it's nice an' all, with your music an' shit," _Not reelly..._ "But c'mon I can't spend every glubbin' second with you."

"Come on, Meenah, I ain't bothering you!" he protested. Oh shit he was giving her the puppy eyes and the pouty lip. She groaned. "You said so yourself. It's not like I'm burdening you wvith my problems, or romprobs as you call 'em. I am merely focusing on my musical and poetic talents and I find that being in your luxurious hivwe does wvonders for my inspiration!"

"Nope, stop, just stop whatever stupid fin you was gonna say," she moaned. "Holy fucking mackerel, Ampora, I know what you's trying to glubbing do, 'kay? And let me tell ya, it ain't happening."

"Oh jeez," he said, standing up abruptly. "I wvouldn't wvant to jeopardize our friendship, much less our potential to become more than friends, Meenah! I just find it easier to wvrite songs wvhen I havwe such an attractivwe person nearby, you see! You knowv, I could alwvays showv you-"

"No," she said quickly.

"I'm doing a revwision of my prevwious 'You Belong Wvith Me'. After hearing the human vwersion -I alwvays knewv they had good taste- I couldn't help but use it to improvwe my owvn!"

"Clamscray, Ampora, I ain't puttin' up with this anenomemore," she told him. He sneered. "Go hang out with what's his shit, Shouty's dancestor. The buoy I don't care about because he runs his squawk gaper twice as much as Serket the original. He's the one who gives a carp."

"Oh I see, that's howv it is! Guess I ain't broken or mentally retarded enough to catch your eye, huh? Wvhy is it that you either gotta be an amputee or unable to fucking speak right to get some nook or bulge around here?! Even Captor's got Tules wvrapped around his little retarded finger and wve all knowv it's out of sympathy but that matespritship is _how_ old? Like, jegus, wvho could possibly put up wvith that idiot for more than a fewv seconds?! I should havwe gone to Earth wvith the humans, wvhere I belong!"

"Look, Crodog, the only reason no one likes you is cause you're a basshole," Meenah deadpanned.

"I'm not a- Wvait, wvhat? Wvhat-"

"I meant asshole you class A dunderfuck! Nomoby wants to be around ya cause all you do is insult people! Seriously, though, clamscray da fuck outta ma hive, bitch. And not just cause you're a douchebag. I'm gonna sleep it's way too late in the day." Once again, not really, but anything to convince him to get lost.

"Fine," he sneered. He left in a huff.

Meenah lay back in her chair, suddenly exhausted. She reminded herself that she really needed to lock her hive door. And the windows. And maybe invest in steel shutters. The bastard was awfully persistent. Maybe one of the Zahhaks could make her some awesome as shit Cronus alarm system. Or a boring person alarm system that would be better.

* * *

She didn't remember closing her eyes, nor did she recall falling asleep, but when she opened her eyes she was in a dream bubble. She might have been excited if the first thing she saw were familiar nubby horns. Oh FUCK, was she sharing her bubble with Kankri _again_?

_C'mon Paradox Space I can't even deal, yo,_ she thought. Then she frowned, raising an eyebrow. _Oh shit wait that's not what's his shit..._

"NUBS!" she yelled excitedly, waving to the cloaked figure a ways away. She recognized that they were in a mixed memory of Prospit and Derse. Probubbly her Derse and his Prospit. When he heard her, Karkat turned.

"Oh, Meenah," he said rather unenthusiastically as she bounced over.

"Way to kill the mood, Shouty," she pouted. "Haven't seen ya in glubbing ages and ya greet me with an 'oh, Meenah'? That is a LOAD of carp!" He shrugged.

"Sorry. Just some heavy shit going down, okay?" he said. Suddenly, he blinked, looking at her in confusion. Even pulling down his hood to glare at her. "Wait, what the fuck is wrong with your eyes?"

"Eyes? My eyes are totally norm, Shouts," she said, tilting her head in confusion.

"Are you alive?!" he exclaimed.

"No shit." They gave each other weird looks.

"What the fuck-" he began.

"Don' bother it's fuck up my think pan just remembering that whole biz," she deadpanned. He facepalmed.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, does that mean all of you-"

"Yeah."

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" he yelled, grabbing a couple of fistfuls of hair. "And what the chafing _fuck_ is my ancestor doing with you guys when he has the shame shit blood I do, huh?! I thought you didn't want mutant bloods fucking up the spectrum!"

"Oh that? Iunno he's probubbly some carpy advisor. Fuck if I was paying attention," she said with a dismissive shrug. "Seariously, though, that's why you ain't over here? Cause of the dumbass spectrum? Nomoby gives a dolphin flip about it." He stared at her like she'd just grown a second head.

"What the fuck? So you're fucking telling me I stormed off for fucking nothing?" he screeched. "Why the fuck didn't anyone tell me?"

"Iunno. It ain't official just...nomoby cares, yo. Like we say we do but not reely." She grinned. "That mean yer coming back, then?" she asked excitedly. The corner of his mouth twitched into an even deeper frown and he folded his arms across his chest.

"Fuck no. If you bastards can't even-"

"Oh my fucking _cod, _just shut the fuck up bout yer stupid troll male pride thang," she groaned. "I get enough of that carp from Crodog." She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Cod dammit, Shouts, yer supposed to be _cool_!"

"I am cool!" he protested. "And it's not pride, jegus! Ugh," he rubbed his head tiredly, "it's something else, okay?" She gave him a disappointed look.

"C'mon, what needs yer attention...wherever the glub you is now, anywaves?" she mumbled.

"Remember when I told you about heavy shit?" She nodded. "There's your answer. Great, case closed, we can throw that file in the fire," he clapped his hands together as if brushing dust off of his hands, "no need to touch that shit anymore. How's the leader shtick going?" Wow, he was quick to change the subject.

"I ain't the leader," she told him. "I'm not going back after all that trouble getting _out_ of it! I left that carp to my adorbubble dancestor that I can't even glubbing look at without wanting to poke her full a holes."

"Uh... Right..." he mumbled. "Look, I should probably go..." She rolled her eyes.

"Where you gonna go? Over there to mope? I haven't seen ya in forevs, yo, let's hang before you wake up, c'mon," she insisted. He still looked unsure, but then something else caught her eye. She hadn't noticed it before, but the Prospit portion of the dream bubble was burning green fire. "Yo, what's up with your Prospit?" He followed her gaze.

"I didn't wake up until Prospit was destroyed," he grumbled. "I never got to frolic in gaudy yellow pyjamas through the land of piss and chess people." He paused a second. "Well, once," he admitted. "In a dream bubble with a...friend."

"What friend?" she purred, interest piqued. Gossip hound senses a tingling.

"Just a friend," he grouched.

"C'mon, Shouts, cough up all the juicy details!" she chimed, inching closer. "How far'd ya go?" He gave her a disgusted look.

"Holy shit, Meenah, we were 7 sweeps old!" he exclaimed angrily.

"As if you don't sea 6 sweep olds fucking everymoby left an' right," she scoffed. "Even on Beforus is was just one big clusterfuck with Popo Maryam in the centre of it all." She grinned at him. "She's still at the centre!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not one of them! It doesn't matter, it happened a long time ago. Why the fuck are you even interested?!" he snapped.

"You gettin' all defensive 'bout it don't convince me," she told him. "C'mon, you must have a least one quadrant filled," she urged. He looked away with a sheepish look on his face.

"Well you're wrong. I haven't had any quadrants since the damn game. Fuck, I live in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, where do you expect me to find a fucking matesprit anyways?" he exclaimed. She merely shrugged.

"Maybe... _Maybe_ somemoby told me about that little wriggler you decided to take care of?"she said, grinning sheepishly. He gaped at her.

"WHO THE FUCK-"

"Oh so it is true," she chuckled. "Porrim told me."

"Why the fuck-"

"Don' be asking me where she got it from. Probubbly her descendent/ancestor." The fact that he was seething with anger only served to amuse her further.

"Well great, does everyone fucking know, then?!" he yelled angrily.

"Probubbly not. P ain't one to gossip too much with the others. Tules might know," she added with a shrug. "And maybe Tunaboy but what the fuck does that matter. Oh, right, Serket knows, too."

"Vriska?!"

"No, Aranea," she corrected him. He groaned, pinching his temples between a thumb and a finger.

"Gog dammit," he muttered. "Thank gog none of them know how to contact me. The last thing I fucking need is all those losers trying to force their way into my fucking life. But why the fuck does everyone assume we're in a fucking quadrant together?! I fucking raised her, dammit! Maybe you idiots can't understand but why don't I explain it like this: It's like a fucking lusus trying to romance their troll kid it's outright fucking disgusting and I wouldn't even fucking consider it."

"Not even pale?" Meenah pressed.

"NO!" he yelled at her. "She's like a human daughter to me, dammit! Do you see the humans' guardians all over their kids?! Gog fucking dammit!"

"Clam down, Shouty," she deadpanned. "It's no big deal."

"I think it's a very big deal!" he snarled.

"Why?" He stopped, flustered.

"I... Because it's not fucking true-"

"So what? Let others think what they want, Nubs. Look at me I'm not even the fucking ruler even though everymoby was looking at me all like 'c'mon Meenah step the fuck up'. It wasn't my thing though and they can bitch about it all they want. I don't give a dolphin flip about their opinion," she told him with a dismissive shrug. "I'm cool just chilling down in my hive collecting ma gold and shit." He frowned at her for a second.

"Your fish puns almost ruined that fucking speech," he told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Shut up."

"I get what you're saying, though. Just...fuck, it pisses me off that people get the wrong fucking idea about us. Half the time I can't even explain it because no one can understand what I'm trying to fucking tell them."

"True. I don't reely understand either," she pointed out.

"See? Ugh, whatever, you're right. I shouldn't even fucking bother. The next time someone asks I'll just tell them to raise a troll and figure it the fuck out themselves," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, grinning.

"Jegus, Nubs, you're so fucking tense. Let's hang and forget about the stupid boring people," she suggested. He actually cracked a tiny smile.

"Yeah, fine, that's sounds okay," he said, letting her drag him away.

Tavros had long ago shucked off any trepidation he once had when venturing down into the darker depths of the 'palace', or whatever you wanted to call it. This palace was located in the hub of Alternia, the place where everything had begun. It was located beside a river that was wide and deep and emptied out into a large lake. The tunnels the fudge blood was in at the moment were actually fairly close to said lake.

He, like almost all the previous troll players, stayed at the palace. He wasn't a cavalreaper, though, but rather a prisoner guard. He was pretty sure that he liked it better this way, though, since it was a much quieter job. Plus, he got to spend time with his best friend down there, which he felt was a great trade off for the fact that the tunnels were dark and dank.

Today was just a daily visit, though, rather than duty. He had in his hands a variety of games, books, and cards for his pal. He would have brought fiduspawn, but they weren't allowed down in the prisoner chambers. He didn't mind, though, because there were plenty of other fun things to do. Not to mention the fun new things that the Beforus trolls had brought with them. Some of those games he preferred even over the Alternian versions.

The fudge blood by now was at the bottom of the stairs and began heading down the halls. There weren't really many prisoners at all, which was understandable since Alternia was still so new. But there was one occupied cell at the very end, a cell made specifically for keeping one troll inside. This cell always had a guard on it, and he was usually that guard, but since he couldn't work all hours there were obviously other guards to take care of it too.

"Pelane?" He was pretty sure it was Pelane on today. There was no reply. "Um, hello?"

But as he approached, he quickly saw what had become of the olive blooded troll. Her innards decorated the walls around the cell, of which the door was torn open. It looked like a fresh coat of green paint, and Tavros knew he should feel sick. However, he'd grown accustomed to this sort of thing. One had to when one spent so much time with the Thief of Light.

Her head had been placed on top of the chair provided for the guards. It had been moved to the middle of the hall and there was a sword through it. Whether it was Gamzee himself or someone who had com to break him out, they'd use Pelane's own sword to dismember and decorate the halls. He dropped the games and hesitantly looked inside the cell, ready to grab his lance at the sign of a possible threat.

"G-Gamzee?" he squeaked. _Oh no, did he..._

Gamzee had never shown any signs of wanting to leave. Not once had he resisted his punishment. In fact, he'd seemed rather...okay with it. And he'd told Tavros as much, and the fudge blood had believed him. His ears drooped now as he observed the empty cell. Had Gamzee lied to him then? Maybe he'd just wanted to lull them into a false sense of security...

He slowly walked into the middle of the cell, staring down at the last remaining item within; a simple picture of him and his good friend with huge grins on their faces. He'd thought that maybe things could go back to being the way they were before. He crouched down to pick up the picture before taking another look around the room.

"Why are you doing this, Gamzee?" he murmured.


	9. Chapter 9

**Oh you guys, you never fail to get that extra chapter out of me. XD Just as a warning this chapter kind of leaps backwards to just after Jade spoke to Kanaya.**

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**Chapter 9**

Sollux opened his eyes to the sound of someone yelling his name. He was still in the recuperacoon, dazed as he was pulled from his sleep. For a second, he didn't move, trying to cling to the last wisps of the dream bubble. He already missed her and he'd only had her in his arms a few minutes ago. Finally, he poked his head out of the cocoon just as Jade was walking into the room.

"I was about to come in and wake you up," she said as she closed the door. She seemed surprised that she'd manage to wake him up.

"Gog dammit, J," he growled, standing up.

He was naked, his lower half covered by the cocoon, but Jade had seen him like this many times. It wasn't the first time she'd burst into his room -and he remembered with a pang that she would often do so excitedly with Aradia- and it wouldn't be the last either.

She casually tossed him a towel that he kept on his dresser so he could wipe himself off before turning her back to let him get dressed. He climbed out of the cocoon as he dried himself off. Knowing that she would have closed her eyes, he brushed past her in search of clothing. He absently picked up a shirt and sniffed it.

"Why do you always insist on visiting when I'm sleeping?" he grumbled. He deemed the shirt acceptable and was now looking for pants.

"I try to sync up my visits so you're awake, but you sleep at the weirdest times!" she protested, folding her arms across her chest, eyes still closed. "And you never answer, even when you're here because you can't hear through your stupid earphones, so I always have to barge in if I want to talk to you even if you're awake."

"There is this amazing invention, you know. It's called the chatbox, a device that allows you to communicate with me almost 24/7. You might want to invest in something like that," he shot back sarcastically. He was hopping around the room as he pulled his pants on. "Safe," he said when he finally won the struggle, letting her open her eyes.

"But I'd rather talk face to face," she mumbled.

"Then warn me or something. Holy FUCK. We have this conversation every fucking time you come here why do I even fucking _bother_," he grumbled. It was followed by a heavy sigh as he tried to figure out which hole in his shirt was which. "But I guess by your urgency that my warning didn't get through to that thick skulled idiot."

"Karkat did everything he could, but they attacked in the day. I think you'd know better than most, Sollux, what it's like to wander around blind," she pointed out. He finally pulled his shirt on and grabbed his glasses. He rolled his eyes, but his lack of pupils made that action indiscernible and therefore useless at expressing his annoyance.

"Go ahead, poke at my past disabilities, I don't mind," he mumbled, putting his glasses on. She sighed.

"You know that's not what I meant!" she said exasperatedly. "But I talked to Kanaya about it and... She was wondering if it maybe had something to do with the culling practices of old Alternia?" she ventured. He shrugged.

"She probably told you how we don't do that anymore," he said, earning a nod in reply. "I doubt they took her for her deafness or her blood colour. The whole culling thing is just a cover up because what do troll teenagers know about stuff like that. I guess those idiots didn't realize that KK has friends that know a little more than fuck all about our politics like he does."

"I can see why. They probably assumed he lives alone," she said. "Except for Janyah, that is. But Karkat said they weren't trolls and that's what bothers me the most." He rubbed his chin.

"Whatever they are, they're powerful enough to kidnap god tiers," he said. She gave him a surprised look. He proceeded to tell her about how Aradia, Dave, and Vriska had all gone missing. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"I haven't heard from John, either!" she blurted out. He blinked in surprise, processing what she said.

"Shit, forgot about that idiot," he muttered, scratching his head. "Can't keep track of him and his windy bullshit. If they're taking god tiers, though, you better watch your ass." Jade simply smirked, the first time she'd smiled during the entire conversation.

"Sollux, I'm a Witch of Space. I could just teleport out of there!" she told him. "In fact, it'd be almost helpful, because then I could teleport everyone out of there."

"Yeah, well, your human ectobiological dumbass brother can turn into fucking wind," he said. "The only way they can keep him holed up is if they threw him into an airtight container or did something about his bullshit powers. I'm sure they could figure out something for you. Is that all? Can I go back to sleep now?"

"I guess you have no way of tracking them, then?" she asked, dog ears drooping in disappointment.

"No," he huffed. "Everything's gone dark."

"I was afraid of that," she murmured. "I can't seem to see anything with my glasses, either. I'll try again the next time I have them, though. And this time I'll look for Aradia, John, and the others." He nodded.

"Yeah, okay. Tell me if you find them. And send me a fucking message this time," he added. He was relieved when she actually giggled. She was his friend and he didn't like seeing her upset. Although he'd never admit it.

"Okay. You look you need some sleep, so I'll do that," she agreed. "I'll talk to you as soon as I can, okay?"

"Got it."

"Bye!"

"See ya," he said, watching her disappear.

He turned back to his recuperacoon, but that one glance already told him that he wasn't going back to sleep. He was awake and alert now, and already itching to get something done. He supposed there was one thing he could do now besides work on the interplanetary gate. He needed to see the Highblood Council about having his deadline pushed back in favour of this catastrophe.

He grabbed a jacket, a yellow one with his symbol printed stylishly on it that Kanaya had made for him, and stepped outside of his room. He lived just outside of the palace, not too far, but it was still too cold to go out with just a T-shirt. It was the only time that he could ever bring himself to look fashionable, but that was only because the jacket was soft, warm, and, therefore, useful.

Chances were that the Council would see him right away, even ahead of those with appointments. His project was at the top of their priority list. But they wouldn't be happy to hear that he wanted the project pushed back. And he had a feeling that telling them about his week doing nothing on it because of his missing matesprit wouldn't go over too well with them. He was hoping to win them over with his case on the missing god tiers, though.

He thought briefly about lying, but they could just as easily ask another member on the team. Equius would not hesitate to tell the Council about how Sollux had missed an entire week. Neither would Horuss, for that matter. Anyone else would probably be too stupid to remember or too disinterested to care in the first place.

He wasn't surprised to see a line outside the office, but he strode past it despite the nasty looks he was getting. One troll, a woman who he knew was prone to violence, actually lashed out, but he simply ducked under the blow and quickened his pace before she could follow up. He opened the door and slipped inside, entering the small room that separated the Council's room from the hallway.

The secretary opened his mouth to protest his intrusion, but obviously thought better of it when he realized who he was talking to. Sollux strode past him as well to enter the much larger room. The Highblood Council, which was made up of cerulean, indigo, and purple blooded trolls, were thirty one members strong and seated in a semi-circle around the room. In the centre would stand their victim as they tried to propose an idea or complain about one thing or another.

Currently, they were all arguing viciously with one another while their most recent victim stood in the centre, looking nervous. In the centre of the chaos was the Grand Highblood, deathly silent and ever observant. Sollux didn't know Gamzee's dancestor, Kurloz, very well, but neither did he intend on getting to know him. Not that he could get anything from the mute, for he was an enigma to even those who knew him best.

But this calm observance allowed the Highblood to pick him out long before his fellows did. Even from afar, Sollux saw him sign something to his translator, Meulin.

"THE GRAND HIGHBLOOD WISHES FOR SILENCE!" she belted out at the top of her lung. The yellow blood supposed that she could afford to, since she was deaf. She was obviously good at her job, since everyone was effectively quieted down.

"What is it, Highblood Makara?" one of the members questioned. She was a purple blood, one of the few in the Council that would even think to speak to him, much less question him. Her name was Fithin Hentro.

"We're done with this lowblood," Meulin answered. "The Grand Highblood has decided that his complaints are unwarranted and that he should take care of them himself or simply ignore it."

"I mean no disrespect, Highblood, but that is a decision that needs to be made by the entire Council," Fithin protested. Kurloz looked at her briefly, then transferred his gaze pointedly to Sollux. She followed his gaze, and, seeing him, didn't protest the decision further.

The poor anonymous blooded troll was promptly ushered out of the room, allowing Sollux to step up to the plate.

"Kurloz wants to know how the project is coming along!" Meulin yelled cheerfully, although she really didn't need to.

"I need an extension," he said, clear and to the point. The Council's displeasure was immediately apparent. He wasn't surprised when conflicted murmurs rose up. Kurloz signed something to Meulin and she demanded silence before translating his gestures.

"You were confident that the deadline we set before would be enough," she whispered, making him strain a little to hear her. "So why are you asking for one now?" He sighed.

"Fuck, I'm not going to lie," he began, scratching the back of his neck. "Another issue came up and I haven't worked on the gate this last week."

"What issue would that be?" Meulin translated. She looked just as displeased as her former matesprit. He hesitated.

"That would be the disappearance of Aradia Megido, Vriska Serket, and the humans Dave Strider and John Egbert," he informed them.

Before anymore could be exchanged, however, there was an interruption. Sollux turned when he heard the door behind him ease open. A short, but heavier built troll will long and awkward horns entered. And though Sollux hadn't seen him in a while and he'd aged quite a bit due to his lowblood lifespan, there was no mistaking Tavros Nitram.

"Um, uh, Grand Highblood..." he muttered, shuffling his feet awkwardly with his head down. Kurloz motioned him forward and he walked onto the little platform beside Sollux with no small amount of trepidation. He spared the yellowblood a small nod in greeting.

"Kurloz wants you to spit it out already!" Meulin yelled harshly when Tavros continued to hesitate. He jolted fearfully before stammering out his story.

"Gamzee is g-gone!" he blurted out. This caused a wave of shock to ripple through the ranks of the Council, but any muttering that started was stopped just as quickly as Tavros continued, "I-I don't, uh, know what happened, but he, he wasn't there when I went d-down and Pelane... Pelane's dead," he told them quietly.

"Did he break out then?" Fithin demanded angrily. Tavros shrank away from her.

"I-I don't know..." he mumbled, fiddling nervously with his hands. "I just... W-Went down and he, um, was gone. And, um, if this is, uh, important, or something, the other, er, the other prisoners were all...dead..."

Even Sollux was put off by these implications. He had a hunch that Gamzee hadn't broken out, but rather been taken. He also had a feeling that the other prisoners had been killed to prevent witnesses. He didn't know if Gamzee was necessarily willing, but he had a feeling that he wasn't. But why would they want Gamzee? Everyone was pretty sure that the clown loving maniac hadn't reached god tier, but the matter had always been up to debate and no one dared to test it.

Kurloz was frowning while the others were in an uproar, obviously mulling over how to respond to this. He signed something to Meulin.

"Be quiet!" she yelled. Her demands went unheard. Her ears drooped and she looked a bit annoyed. "SHUT UP!" she screeched at the top of her lungs. Quiet followed. "The Grand Highblood will speak of this happenstance to the Empress!" she announced, cheerful again. "You can leave, Tavros," she purred.

"I, uh... Thank you," he said, quickly taking his leave.

"I think this might be connected," Sollux said before the matter could be brushed aside, "to what I was just telling you about." Most of the highbloods gave him looks for speaking out of place, but, really, no one gave a shit about the hemospectrum. Well, maybe not everyone. He didn't, at least, but mostly because he could get away with it.

"Kurloz thinks you should leave that matter in the Council's hands and would like to refer you to the Grand Advisor for your issue," Meulin purred. He groaned.

"Oh gog, anything but that," he begged. "What the fuck did I do to deserve that kind of punishment!"

"He is better suited for these matters," she chirped, giving him a closed eyed grin. "We leave the decision up to him. Contact the Grand Advisor, please!"

She would not have anymore discussion on the matter, and therefore neither would the Grand Highblood. Sollux sighed, wondering what those two had done to get their status. He would almost prefer Gamzee as the Grand Highblood as opposed to the mute. At least Gamzee had chilled out a little, even if he was no more predictable than his ancestor. But Kurloz...just creeped him the fuck out.

Though he was partially glad that he didn't have to deal with the Council any longer than needed, he wasn't sure if it was such a great trade off. The 'Grand Advisor' was touchy, grumpy, and so long winded that his speeches put him to sleep. And he had thought Karkat was bad, but he'd take his ornery, grey text friend over the other brattier Vantas any day.

If he was lucky, then maybe Porrim would be there to help pacify him. But with his luck, he really doubted it.

* * *

Sollux was well aware that if he breathed wrong near Kankri, he'd get a thorough lecture. He was making a plan in his head as he stormed through the halls towards the little office that Kankri called home. It would be as quick as possible. He would go in, ask his question, and as soon as he got confirmation he would leave before Kankri launched into one of his tirades. Hell, he'd leave even if the older troll launched into that bullshit.

He rapped his knuckles against the door, all the while hoping he wasn't triggering the damn bastard or whatever the fuck. There was no incident, though, as the shorter, red eyed troll opened the door and looked up at him.

"Ah, Mr. Captor," he said. "What brings you to my respiteblock?"

"Look, KK 2, we're going to make this quick," Sollux said, slowly so that maybe he would get the message. "I didn't come here for your social justice bullshit. Those idiots at the Council-"

"Wait! You shouldn't use that term!" Kankri protested. "You do realize that idiot was never meant as an insult or even something remotely similar to the meaning it has come to possess? Rather than the insufficiency of intellect, or IQ, 'idiot' was a term coined for the purpose of defining those with an IQ of certain-"

"I don't. Fucking. Care," Sollux snapped, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I went to the Highblood Council to get an extension on the interplanetary deadline and they referred me to you. I didn't fucking come here to be lectured like an ignorant piece of shit, I just want a yes or no."

"Why would you request an extension?" Kankri demanded, ignoring him. He looked genuinely curious as he leaned a bit closer with his hands clasped together. "I was informed that the deadline already set would be sufficient for you to complete this task. I was also told that it was you yourself making these claims. Are you going back on them now, then? Or was there a miscommunication?"

"No, FUCK. Jegus, I haven't worked on it the past week because I was busy being a worthless piece of _shit_ inside my respiteblock after my fucking matesprit went missing," he snarled.

"Would that be the reason for the current severity of your bipolarity? Please, tell me if I mention anything that may trigger you, but I think it best that you be informed of my meaning. You see, the reason your disorder may not have been as severe as it had once been is possibly due to your relationship with Megido. You see, it's common belief that a steady relationship, among both humans and trolls, is actually quite healthy.

"I'm glad you brought up the issue, actually, because as of late I've been contemplating the odd behaviour of your team during your session of Sgrub, specifically the rampant murder of over half your members. From what I've gathered, many of them had little to no quadrants filled, whereas in my own session and on my version of our planet in general, in fact, relationships were fairly easy to come by.

"So I've come to the conclusion that relationships are healthy and certainly help reduce the effects of possible mental disorders. Another example of this would be your dancestor and his long-time matesprit, Latula," sounding a bit strained when he mentioned that particular matespritship, "where I have observed that Mituna is much calmer when around his matesprit.

"Proceeding deeper into the subject, there is a matter of bonding between matesprits and the effect _that_ has on the mental state of both people such as yourself and Mituna and even those who lack any disabilities. You see, it is common knowledge that the act of coitus is a way of strengthening bonds within the concupiscent quadrants. It is my belief that the more coitus performed between matesprits or kismeses improves the already stabilizing effects of the relationship in the first place.

"Perhaps if you told me about the relations between you and Megido, I would be able to determine-"

"Stop! Holy shit, fucking stop," Sollux snarled, his entire face yellow. "Trigger or whatever the fuck because we are not fucking doing this! This is not a thing that is fucking happening right now, you are not delving into my private life like a nosy nooksucking son of a musclebeast, gog dammit! FUCK. I just told you that that's exactly what I _didn't_ come here for! Just give me a fucking answer." Kankri's mouth twisted into a frown.

"My deepest apologies for triggering you. However, you do not need an extension. I am confident of your abilities to complete your work," he said. Sollux did a double take.

"What?" he said in disbelief.

"I am confident that you will be able to meet the deadline and do not require any sort of extension, Mr. Captor," he repeated. "If you had plenty of time before to get it done, I believe that a week lost won't be too harming on the project, if making the schedule a bit tight. I suggest you get back to work, though. Every second you lose heightens the possibility of you failing to meet the deadline," Kankri deadpanned.

Sollux's heart fell. He wasn't actually sure that the deadline would be met unless he let go of a few more nights of sleep. However, the main reason he'd wanted an extension was because he'd wanted to dedicate more time to searching for the missing god tiers. Kankri, like Karkat, was a stubborn shit, though, and would not be convinced otherwise. So without thanks or farewells, he turned and angrily walked away.

* * *

**The mystery deepens. o.o**

**So hey, on the topic of Gamzee and god tier, what do you guys think happened? It seems to be a bit of controversial subject. Personally, I don't think he went god tier, there's too much evidence going against it, but who could possibly predict the whims of Mr. Hussie?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright so I had a chapter planned, I really did, but last second I decided to completely rewrite it. And then I was going to post the one after that, but then forget that I hadn't finished it yet for some reason because I'm a scatterbrained fool. Fortunately, these next few chapters are around the same time chronologically. In this one, things are getting a little more heated as we head back to Janyah and, well, suddenly have some questions answered and more of them popping up.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

_Girl. You there, girl. Wake up._

Janyah jolted awake when she thought she heard, yes, _heard,_ a voice. She hesitantly waited, wondering if she'd just been imagining actually _hearing_ something, but the voice didn't come back. Deciding to pass it off as nothing, she took a look at her surroundings.

Above, she saw a high ceiling with lots of cords and piping hanging from it. For a second, she was confused. Hadn't that just been a nightmare, her kidnapping? She sat up wondering this, wringing her hands nervously as she looked around. She was in the corner of some room. It was so big though, this room, that she couldn't see either end of it.

_Speak out. There are allies nearby. _Her ear twitched and she looked around curiously.

"Hello?" she called out. Which was pretty stupid on her part, considering she was deaf and wouldn't hear any possible reply. She huffed, reaching up to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She blamed it on the fact that she was still tired.

But wait, what if Karkat was there? Or Jade? They would recognize her voice and come looking for her. On the other hand, though, if she made too much noise then she would probably alert someone else and she didn't want that. Especially since she wouldn't be able to hear them coming. She decided to stay quiet, instead.

_What do I do, then? I can't just sit here..._ she thought exasperatedly. She didn't want to get up, though. She was too scared.

Her heart skipped a beat when she thought she saw something flash in the dark. Bright eyes reflected light. It could be anything, really, from troll to beast to lusus. She pushed herself further into the corner, praying that they didn't see her. She didn't want them to find her, no matter what they were.

Her greatest fear was that her attackers might know about her blood colour, which may or may not have been what prompted her capture in the first place. Karkat had always told her never to tell anyone about her blood colour. He never told her why, but she caught on quickly that the results of such an act would be grisly. Experience told her, though, that maintaining an anonymous grey was just as likely to get other trolls' attention.

But maybe they'd taken her because she was deaf, which she supposed was pretty logical. Karkat liked to talk in his sleep, and sometimes she would sit up and watch him after waking up from a nightmare. He didn't have nice things to say about Alternia.

But he talked about other things, too, things that confused her. He talked about a game, about Lord English, about Her Imperial Condescension. Sometimes he would even cry over the death of some friend or another. Once he cried about Terezi, someone Janyah knew a little about. She wondered what had happened to the teal blooded troll to get this kind of response.

Karkat talked a lot about a troll called Gamzee. Sometimes he would call Gamzee a drunken idiot, other times he would express concern for him, and sometimes full out fear of him. Once he'd even angrily told him to 'shut your whore mouth, you clown murderer son of bitch', which scared her the most. The angry troll had quite obviously been through a lot.

She was sad and a little guilty because of how much she complained about her nightmares when she'd seen his own in action. All he did was tell her that he never had nightmares, though. He would suck it up and roll with it. Maybe he talked to Jade about it? Janyah didn't know, but she hoped that he didn't keep it all bottled up.

But did that mean Karkat and Jade were moirails, then?

She had been trying to figure out their relationship ever since Karkat had explained, in great detail, the quadrants. Which was obviously a topic that he was very passionate about. She couldn't just accept the two as platonic friends, though, they were too close. But what if Jade, being a human, didn't realize the kind of relationship? What were human friendships like? They didn't have quadrants, she knew. She wished she knew more about humans, then maybe she could figure it out.

All this thinking about quadrants had her thinking about her matesprit. Her ears drooped. Poor Catryn was probably wondering why she hadn't come to visit. The yellow blooded troll had seemed so excited about meeting Karkat, and Janyah had been excited to introduce them. She had even asked Karkat about quadrants the other night, mostly to see if he would be receptive to the idea, but he'd gotten kind of sad and just told her to go to sleep. She didn't really know what to think of that.

_Do not fear._

When she saw the eyes flash again, and this time there were more of them, she really wished that she had allocated something to her strife specibus. She supposed a somewhat sheltered life did that to her. Jade had set the rule that she couldn't go out without Karkat, and Karkat didn't like going out in the first place. She wasn't always able to convince him unfortunately.

_Speak to them. They wish to talk._

"If you're trying to talk to me, I'm deaf," she whispered, or at least she hoped she was whispering. Whatever, they knew she was here anyways. "And I can't talk to you properly unless I can read your lips."

There was an obvious pause in movement. Then, one of the pairs of eyes came out of the darkness into her line of sight. He was her age, but still small. And he was a troll, though she couldn't tell what colour his eyes were, if they'd filled in at all. He was wearing fairly thick glasses and had short but messy hair. His horns spiralled gracefully upwards. Two sharp teeth poked out over top of his upper lip.

_One of us. Trust him._

"Hello," he said, his ears perking up. "Are...you really...deaf?" He spoke slowly and steadily and she wasn't sure if he was doing it for her sake or if that was how he always talked. She didn't really like it, though.

"I'm deaf, but not dumb. You can speak normally," she couldn't help but snap. He sneered.

"I don't know how it works," he growled. She didn't like him.

"Whatever. Where are we?" she demanded. "And who are you?"

_He is an ally._

"I wonder why they brought a stupid deaf girl," he continued, ignoring her. She bristled angrily.

"Hey! You're the idiot, here, fuckass!" she snarled. He folded his arms across his chest.

"At least I know where we are, i-di-ot!"

"Then where are we!" she raised her voice as much as she could.

"Well, alright, I don't know," he giggled. "You're cute when you're angry, though. I'm Addern Captan."

"Go fuck yourself," she grumbled.

"I do know that we were chosen for a reason," he offered. "Sometimes they take us away and we come back with certain abilities..."

"That... That doesn't sound very good at all," she murmured. Hadn't she read stuff like this in the shitty novels that Jade always brought her?

"Hey, you should meet the Grand Highblood!" he suddenly exclaimed.

_Do not go. This Highblood is not one of us. He is of the light._

"Huh? What?" Addern had already grabbed her hand and dragged her to her feet. She was suddenly feeling very uneasy about the Highblood.

"Hey, what's your name anyways?" he abruptly changed the subject, turning so she could 'hear' him. She had to admit that he was catching on quickly. "We can't just keep calling you the stupid deaf girl, can we?" he snickered, making her glare at him.

"Janyah Vantas," she growled irritably. She then looked around nervously at the other trolls nearby. "And what about everyone else? Are they...friendly?"

"Oh yeah. There's a lot of us here," he told her. "Not all of us think it's so great, but we don't fight. Much," he added, giggling in a way that frightened her a little. "Those with powers like to test them out of each other."

_Stay away. Not good. They will hurt you._

"Ugh! Why would you think any of this is great!" she exclaimed. He frowned. "This sounds like a weird prison with creepy shit head scientists experimenting on us, and I'm starting to actually believe that."

"Hey, I'll let you in on a little secret, Vantas," he muttered. "This is way better than what _would_ happen if we weren't here, you know? If you aren't nigh perfection, if you're weird in the head or have something physically wrong with you, hell, if you don't have a lusus, then you're going to get killed. That's the reason we're here, you know, so we won't get killed. Or at least that's what they've told us, so what choice to we have but to believe them?"

_Silly boy and his silly lies..._

"What?" She didn't really buy that explanation.

"It's called culling," he continued. "They keep it on the down low, apparently."

"I already knew that," Janyah said. "My, uh..." She hesitated, what was Karkat to her? Jade called him her dad but that wasn't something Addern would understand. "Friend," she settled on, "told me about that. That's why he helped me stay hidden."

"'Cause you're deaf," he finished for her.

"Um... Yeah." Best not to tell him about her blood colour, Karkat always warned her about that. "Why were you going to be culled?"

"Heh, attention deficit disorder," he giggled. "Apparently it's an issue!"

_These are lies. Tell the boy they are lies, he can't hear us. This 'culling' is a lie, lie, lie..._

"I don't care about culling... I'd rather just go home," Janyah said sadly. "I miss my...lusus."

"I'm surprised a lusus would even pick up a freak like you!" he laughed. It hurt more than she'd wanted it to.

If there was one thing about the way she was raised that truly bothered her, then it was the fact that she'd never had a lusus. Even Karkat had had one, and he had the same blood colour. And she was almost sure that there were other deaf troll children with lusus. But not her. Karkat had told her that he had picked her up in the forest all alone. No lusus, no nobody. Nobody had wanted her except another freak and his dog eared, alien friend.

Not that she didn't like Jade and Karkat, but the fact that she didn't have a lusus... It just bothered her and she couldn't stop herself from being bothered.

"Where is the Grand Highblood?" she asked, feeling awkward when she said that. It sounded stupid, like something an ignorant child would say.

_No! Do not go!_

"Over here!" he snickered. "This way!"

_Deny! DENY! DENYDENYDENYDENYDENY–_

"Uh... O-Okay..." she agreed hesitantly, letting him drag her away once more.

_Foolish girl..._

* * *

"what do you motherfuckers motherfucking want?"

Janyah was stiff with horror at the troll she saw in the cage next to whatever...pen they'd been herded into. He was tall and gruesomely thin. His features were drawn from lack of food and sharply accentuated by the use of messy white paint. His wild eyes were dark purple in the half light. His hair was just as wild, though, a mane of black that trailed halfway down his back. He was hunched over in the far corner, making good use of the shadows to cast a frightening visage.

_His eyes are the same colour as Addern's..._ The thought made her jolt. _Wait, I thought I couldn't see...?_

"We've got someone new, Highblood," Addern said, grinning and motioning towards Janyah with his eyes. "Her name is Janyah Vantas." The Highblood's eyes flashed, fixating on her.

"vantas..." He barely moved his lips when he talked, and the dark only made it that much harder. Janyah flinched away from him when he moved, suddenly very close. His breath stank. "who the motherfuck are you?"

"He just told you," she growled. Addern was giving her a panicked look, silently telling her to shut up. She ignored him. "Weren't you listening, fuckass? My name is Janyah Vantas, and if you have a fucking problem with that just come out and say it, jackass!"

"YOU'VE GOT MOTHERFUCKING SPUNK, CHICKA!" he roared with laughter. "JUST LIKE MY OLD MOTHERFUCKING BEST FRIEND, YOU KNOW?!" He grinned madly at her, making her pull away even more.

"And who the fuck are you, anyways?" she sneered, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.

_Do not provoke him, he is dangerous. Leave. Run._

"gamzee makara," he purred. She paled with horror. This was the last troll she expected to meet. Ever. Gamzee stuck his thin face through the bars, only stopped by his long twisting horns, sneering at her. "GUESS HE MOTHERFUCKING TOLD YOU ABOUT ME, HUH?!" He burst out laughing. But just as suddenly, that laughter turned into a grimace and his eyes fixated on Addern, who was looking at the scene with bemusement. "leave." He blinked out of his stupor.

"What? No way, I-"

"I SAID MOTHERFUCKING LEAVE, MOTHERFUCKER!" he screeched. Addern wasted no time scurrying off into the darkness. Janyah, for all her dislike of him, wish he had stayed. She didn't want to be alone with this madtroll.

_Go after him!_

"He didn't," she answered. "He...he talks in his sleep." No use lying. He obviously already knew that she was acquainted with Karkat.

"did he raise you?" he whispered. "you're a shit blood too, eh?"

"N-No-"

"DON'T MOTHERFUCKING LIE TO ME!" he snarled. But his anger snapped back to seeming content and relaxation within a second. "how is my brother, hm? i haven't seen that motherfucker ever since they locked me up."

_Run!_

"G-Good..." She felt like she shouldn't be here. "How do you know him? And why..." she trailed off, unable to finish. She wanted to ask him why Karkat was so afraid of him, but...

"it's a loooong story, chicka," he chuckled. His grin widened, as if he'd been waiting for her to ask that. "you willing to get your listen on so i can all up and tell you my story?"

_Lies. Only lies._

Ignoring the bad feeling in her gut, she nodded, "Yes please. I...I get the feeling that he's been through a lot. He won't tell me, so maybe you will."

"that's a motherfucking understatement," he sneered.

As he began to spin his tale, she hesitantly sat down. She listened to him tell her about a game, about sopor slime, the Mirthful Messiahs. Suddenly, a lot of the things that Karkat muttered about in his sleep made sense. And though a part of her wanted to disbelieve him, she knew that he wasn't lying save for a few embellishments in the story.

By the end of it, she was stupefied. Gamzee sat back, a relaxed grin spreading across his face as he watched her with lazy eyes. Of course she'd always known that Jade wasn't particularly normal, Janyah had seen her abilities to teleport but had never questioned them because that was what she'd grown up with. But from Gamzee told her, her human friend was practically a god, conditional immortality and all.

But there were others, too. Gamzee was one of the players, and so was Terezi and everyone else that Karkat talked about in his sleep. Not all of them were gods, Karkat wasn't, but they had all played an important role in the destruction of a great demon called Lord English, a mad troll queen known as Her Imperious Condescension, and the creation of the very universe they lived in now.

It made her mind reel with all the information she'd just taken in, and she was sure that what Gamzee had told her was only the half of it.

"All of that really happened?" she breathed.

"don't be all up and calling my a motherfucking liar, chicka. i know what i'm talking about," he told her.

"I'm sorry, it's just... Wow, okay, so... So... Why are you here, then? What would they want with someone who helped make the universe itself? I'm starting to think we aren't just here because we would be culled if we weren't," she murmured.

"that's motherfucking right. what you heard were just motherfucking lies, motherfucker," he told her, his grin fading. "know the classpects i was all up and telling you about?"

"Oh yeah. Karkat's the Knight of Blood, and Jade's the Witch of Space..."

"that's motherfucking right. these motherfuckers were interested in them. i'm not the only motherfucker here from the game," he told her. "but i'm the only non-god, i motherfucking suppose."

"Why didn't you tell the others that they were lies?" she asked, leaning forward a little. She was bubbling with questions that she wanted answers to.

"because i don't give a shit about those motherfuckers," he growled. She frowned.

"Why me?"

"cause you're my old best buddy's motherfucking friend. i can't all up and leave you in the dark," he paused, "plus, you have a way of stealing all the secrets away from this motherfucking mystery."

_The light one doesn't speak all lies, it seems._

"Okay then," she said, confused. She didn't really understand what he meant, nor why he worded it that way. "But if you're here because of the classpects, then why _us_?" she asked. His grin once again returned.

"you're about to find out, motherfucker," he purred. "THE CARNIVAL'S JUST BEGUN!" he roared.

* * *

**Gamzee is hella fun to write. Also, I feel like I should clarify that Janyah only 'heard' the first italicized phrase that woke her up, while the others were more influencing her decisions like the exiles did. ^^**


End file.
